


Of Ghosts and Demons

by Shifty009



Series: Exploits of Destiny [1]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Awoken Guardian (Destiny) - Freeform, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Crota's End Raid, Destiny, Destiny 2, Exo Guardian (Destiny) - Freeform, Fallen (Destiny) - Freeform, Fluff and Angst, Game: Destiny: The Dark Below DLC, Gen, Hive (Destiny) - Freeform, Human Guardian (Destiny) - Freeform, Hunter Guardian (Destiny), I'll try to keep this thing updated regularly, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Near Death Experiences, Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, The Cosmodrome, The Crucible (Destiny), The Hellmouth (Destiny), The Vanguard (Destiny), Titan Guardian (Destiny), Vex (Destiny) - Freeform, Warlock Guardian (Destiny), Your Fireteam Is Your Family, old russia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2020-11-08 05:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 104,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20830157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shifty009/pseuds/Shifty009
Summary: A hunter is marked by his clever nature and penchant for survival against unusual odds. A hunter is quick, unorthodox, and suspicious of all. Schade-9, a pitch-black exo with a natural aptitude for combat, finds he is such a hunter... Or is he? Through confidence and an insatiable curiosity, he sets out after a traumatizing loss at the hands of the Hellmouth, determined to learn as much as he can about the worlds around him. Along the way, he will meet new guardians, heal old wounds, and in time, come to terms with his own inner demons.This guardian is played on PS4 by the writer, and the following story is an adaptation of his player's in-game exploits, obviously with some flourish.*****There ARE images embedded in here, such as the book cover and in between scene environments.  Do let me know if these images are not showing up and I will see what I can do to fix it!*****





	1. Prologue - A Guardian Awakens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghost finds its partner amid the wreckage of vehicles outside of Old Russia. After centuries of searching, it at last knows who its other half is... Or does it?

**Prologue**

\- - -

There was no sound. Only a deafening silence. Blackness, and just the barest perception of the passage of time. Something like a rush through the ears, if there were ears to begin with. A memory surfaced, if it could be called that. Horrible noise; the screaming of crunching metal, a showering of broken glass. Words shouted in a tongue long forgotten, only remembered through intent. There were too many.

_ А вот и Вы…_

Pain… The rush of life seemed to come back to the forefront now. More specifically, the desire to hold on to it. An intense desire. So intense, he felt like he could take on an entire army to keep it. The team before him wouldn’t take that from him, and he was going to show them just how hard he was going to fight them for it.

_ Guardian…_

It was dark, but so was everything else. Nothing changed. He picked up the nearest improvised knife in his sleety surroundings and re-entered the fight. Despite his fear, he would never run. He thought this fight was over, for some reason, but he more than welcomed a continuance.

_ Guardian?_

He was already on death’s doorstep, but no one could change his mind. He had too much to protect. He would never let them pass…

_ “Eyes up, Guardian!”_

Suddenly, that didn’t seem right. None of it did. There was far too much light… Where was the road? Everything was… Brown? At least the snow was familiar, but nothing else made sense. A swiftly fading memory of darkness gave way to the dawn on a snowy hilltop, eyes slowly coming into focus on a veritable pile of ancient, rusted vehicles, all collided and massed in the same direction as though escaping from some unseen force in history.

“It worked… You’re alive!”

Oh, _there’s_ his body. The exo was already on his feet, but the moment he dizzily looked over to the makeshift knife in his hand and discovered it was little more than some old, archaic door handle from eons past, his legs gave way a bit and he set himself down rather clumsily. Any attempt to question his reality was just a mumbling mess of trying to find words instead of random noises. Though, with some small moment of mental pause, his first clear realization was that he wasn’t talking to a person. Rather, a little blue light floating just in front of him.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been looking for you,” the light said to him as his consciousness slowly began to warm up. “I’m a Ghost. Actually, now I’m you’re Ghost. And you… Well, you’ve been dead a long time-”

Dead…? What? He peered around as the light continued to prattle on, finding his surroundings as quickly as he could. He had no earthly idea where he was, but by God, he was going to find a way out of it. Just as he spied the trail off to the right, he heard some unholy screeching from across the sea of wrecked cars. Judging by the light’s reaction to it, the sound wasn’t in his head.

“This is Fallen territory,” it explained. “We aren’t safe here. I have to get you to the City.”

The exo was already finding his feet and trying to move in the direction he’d seen earlier, violet eyes peeking up at the little blue light. “City…? What city?”

The light didn’t react, scanning the area with its one blue eye before returning to him rather quickly. “Hold still,” it said, and the exo instinctively did just the opposite, flinching back a bit as the floating bumble-ball disappeared in a mist of light right next to his face.

“What the-?!”

“Don’t worry, I’m still with you,” the voice reassured from an echo in his mind.

“Yeah, like I don’t need to be worried about that…”

“We need to move, fast.” The little light seemed impatient enough. “We won’t survive out in the open like this. Let’s get inside the wall.”

The exo was already moving after more hellish chatter echoed from across the field. “Yeah, that’s where I was going until you… Did whatever that was,” he fitted quietly, staying low and dashing toward the tall structure ahead. He slipped around frozen vehicles with hardly a sound, leery of every noise around him in the cold as he hopped up on top of a platform near the massive wall itself. He offered one glance back to the open field, obsidian-black plates squinting a bit against the sunlight as movement on top of the vehicles blended in with the blustery snow. Not taking a moment more to discern what the hell that actually was, he dipped into the safe shade of the structure, quietly springing up deteriorated stairs to get out of the open air. “Better already…”

“Okay,” the tiny possessor started again from the back of his mind. “I need to find you a weapon before the Fallen find us.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” the exo said as he trotted up around a turn in the stairwell. It must’ve been his tone that surprised the voice, or perhaps that he was even showing a preference to something. Strange little beeps and chirps filled his mind.

“How good are you? At combat, that is. Do you remember? Anything at all?”

He tried not to roll his eyes at the stranger’s tone. “Oh yeah, sure, like I was just…” His steps slowed to a stop as the thought hit him… He _didn’t_ remember anything at all. Out of the darkness came this blue light, that he no longer sees, and his brief run through the rusted vehicles accounts for his entire memory. Hands on his hips, he lets out a breath. “Hoooookay, wake up on a frozen cliff in BFE, hearing voices, and running from mirages in a junkyard. What a great way to start my morning.”

“Quiet,” the strange voice hushed him. “They’re right above us…”

He stopped freaking out long enough to listen to the scurrying of large claws directly above them, finding the threat of his continued existence to need his attention more than the pondering of his previous one. Moving forward, he could hear the voice in his head whispering to him.

“It sounded like you remembered something… Would have been rare if you did, but it’s totally normal to, you know, not remember anything. Being dead and all.”

The exo was about to quiet the voice himself when sudden movement in the wall in front of him nearly scared the life right back out of him. He froze in silence as something his size crawled up the exposed pipes like a spider, moving only after making sure whatever the hell that was didn’t just hear the chatterbox in his head… _Could_ anyone else hear it? Sneaking onward into the dark walls, he found himself in silence as he climbed some stairs. He was just about to dismiss the voice as a figment of his imagination when he entered the pitch-black area ahead and the same little light manifested in a soft flash right in front of him. “Ey-!”

“Hang tight,” it said, unapologetic for startling him. “Fallen thrive in the dark, we won’t. We need more light… I’ll see what I can do.” The light floated off into the dark, illuminating various pipes and valves along the way. As well as the red-cloaked, human-sized creature clinging to one of them. That alone gave him pause, but the light continued on in the distance, somehow heard in his head again. “Another one of these hardened military systems… And a few centuries of entropy working against me.” Its complaint only made the exo think more.

“Centuries…?” He thought out loud, lingering in the dark while the talking lamp floated silently around a corner. Was this not a dream? Did he actually die? If he did, just how long has it been? What on earth was he doing out here? As lights began to flicker, he attempted to discern some of the horribly faded writing on the various surfaces around him, still trying to ascertain where, exactly, he was on the globe. If he was even still on Earth, now that he thought about it. What he thought was a label on a pipe ended up moving… As did numerous other objects the moment the lights turned on.

“They’re coming for us!” The light said pointedly as he zipped back to him from down the way. Other floating things came in just behind him as well as what appeared to be a small detachment of humanoids running down the catwalks, and those definitely had guns on them.

“Oh, that’s… Fantastic,” the exo sighed tensely as he sprinted off to the right, diving under an opening wire gate. He could vaguely hear the voice talking again, but he saw a rifle abandoned against a crate atop a pile of human remains and dove for it like it was his lifeline.

_ Khvostov 7G-02. Auto rifle. Easy reload, decent rate of fire. Twenty-five rounds per mag._

His thoughts stuttered for just a moment as his muscle memory took up the weapon like he’d known it forever, only having caught himself after he’d racked a round into the chamber. He hadn’t stopped moving, nor had he missed the voice’s hope that he knew what he was doing. Out of nowhere, a bite of irritation hit him for the doubt. As he rounded the corner and something dropped down from the ceiling, he instinctively ducked down and squeezed the trigger, popping the thing’s head off before it finished straightening up with a natural, trained three-round burst.

“Nice shot!”

He wasn’t sure if that was his own voice or the voice of the little blue fella who turned on the lights, but he’d take it. He let out a breath and tilted his head, raising his brow in preparation for the next things that would take him on. This felt… Oddly natural to him. Knees bent, he pressed on, hugging every corner he found and popping every head he saw. Along the way, he’d found a decent shotgun, remembering the old Preacher Mk. 20 as he had the rifle… He was all the more dangerous for it. Clearing the next few rooms of red-cloaked spider people was almost a meager effort in the close confines of the old ruin.

The little voice spoke again as he made his way to a vent. “The Fallen have a tighter hold on this place than I thought. Just a little bit further. Let’s hope something is out there…”

Racking his shotgun after the brief firefight he just finished, he strode at a more relaxed pace through the half-frozen water in the pipe. “You know, I’m starting to think you’re not a figment of my imagination,” he reasoned with the stranger in his head. “Feels a little too real to be a dream. Unless I’m one of those lucid dreamers…”

“Well, I appreciate you, uh… Not dismissing me as your imagination?” It beeped, likely the bodiless equivalent of a shrug. “Makes this whole journey a lot easier when you come to terms so quickly.”

The exo laughed nervously as he stepped into a dry hallway. “Oh yeah, easier coming to terms. I just killed, I’unno… Twenty people? On the way here?” He mumbled back and forth between the words “people” and “things” for a moment, looking to the invisible voice around him.

“Those were Fallen,” the voice answered. “You don’t want to take them lightly, trust me…”

“Ah, the spider-people are the Fallen you keep mentioning…” He fell silent for a moment. “…You got a name?”

A chittering beep. “Not yet, no.”

“Huh…”

He stepped out of the hallway to see a door directly to outside. A huge open area, littered with abandoned, overgrown buildings and spires that stretched for the sky. It astonished him how long it had taken him to traverse the interior of the wall, stars reminding him of the time. He recognized everything… Maybe not directly, but he knew what it all was. Other than a lack of cover.

“This was an old cosmodrome,” the voice explained, hope flickering in its words. “There’s got to be something we can fly out of here-”

The exo instantly ducked down as flares shot up into the darkened sky. His companion voice shouted a warning, but he was already on the move, staying low and sprinting from cover to sparse cover as a warp rupture lit the area and spat out a massive ship. The spires around it crumpled from the shockwave and he ducked down behind a crate as snow kicked up all around him from the force of it. “Any insight now, buddy?”

“Fallen ships! This close to the surface?!”

“I don’t suppose they’d parachute, no.” Slipping through the broken buildings like a cat on the prowl, the exo made his way further ahead, trying everything he could to stay out of the open if it could be helped. The roaring of engines above him made him tense, and he looked up to see an alien dropship hover in close and unload a small detachment of Fallen. Cringing a bit to himself at the openness, he sprinted off to a shipping crate, opening fire on anything that spotted him and watching them burst into a fountain of ghostly light. “Heh,” he smirked, straightening as the last one fell. “Not so bad… They seem awfully out of practice for a bunch of alien maraude-” He was cut short by a searing pain on his side, a hurried shot from a sniper that made a nice hole in his shoulder. It nearly took him off his feet before he scrambled for cover again, holding his now useless left arm against his side as dark blood began to trail to the snow. “Aahhh, shit…”

“Don’t worry, I got it.” The light once again manifested, shining a few pale rays on the wound, and it… Disappeared? The pain stopped, and the light disappeared again.

The exo tested his arm a bit, staring at it in disbelief. It was completely healed. There wasn’t even a scar past the hole in his jacket. “What the actual…?”

“You did good making it this far without getting shot, though.” The voice in his head seemed surprised. “You’re quick. Something tells me you’re a hunter.”

The exo, not knowing what to react to first, got up in a state of confusion and readied his rifle as he spoke in a tight voice. “Well, no, I’m an exo, but I guess I could have been a hunter, I dunno. All I know for sure is that I’m one confused sunovabitch.” He peeked out of a rusted hole in the shipping container and sighted the sniper, unloading a few bursts into him at range with his rifle until the body dropped. “I mean, what would I be hunting? Bears? Wolves? I don’t _look_ like a hunter, I mean…” He gunned down a couple more skittering aliens while he talked, clearly trying to keep himself calm as his thoughts scrambled to keep up with everything that was happening to him.

“Okay, well, don’t freak out,” the voice instructed between beeps and chirps. “Just keep moving. Movement is life, and it looks like these shipping containers are going to be your best bet.”

“Yeah, sure…” His voice was still a bit on the high side, but somehow, keeping in the fluid motion of combat kept him level. That is, until a four-armed alien came screaming at him from around a corner, catching him completely off-guard for a second. Purely out of reflex, the exo swung his left hand out like he’d meant to throw something at the thing. His hand was empty, for sure, but imagine his surprise when a ball of brightly flashing electricity launched out and exploded the thing up into the air, past the container he’d just come out of. He stood there for a moment after the ragdoll body landed, blinking at the flare of light as it flashed out. “…Was that me?”

“Yes, that was you!”

“…Am I Thor? Tell me I’m Thor, that would make about as much sense.”

The disembodied friend buzzed, and the exo could have sworn it was an audible eyeroll. “…I’m picking up signs of an old jumpship. Could be our ticket out of here.” It didn’t even want to address what was just said.

The exo walked in silence for some time after the threats were clear, moving through an old building. His eyes were distant in thought, only minding the windows and corners as he neared them. He had no idea who he was… That only just occurred to him after he’d made that comment. He knew he was an exo, and he recognized the Russian writing on the various fixtures around him, but he had no idea otherwise what he could have been. Surely there was something about him in the past…

“Well, you’re wearing an old military jacket,” the voice quipped.

The exo stopped and tilted his head back with a sigh in the middle of the room. “You can read my mind.”

“I can totally read your mind. Sort of.”

“Fantastic…”

More beeps. “You were thinking very passionately about something, which is why… Don’t be stressed, Guardian. I can tell when you are.”

“Oh, you can?” He mock-laughed at the voice, turning around in the room with a raised brow. “As if waking up alone to a strange world of spider people and talking lightbulbs _wouldn’t_ show as stress on my face? Or how about getting shot, and it _magically_ disappears after this blue lightbulb looks at it? Or how about the _complete memory loss_ bit? Is my stress that obvious?”

His otherwise invisible companion finally showed itself, looking a little concerned. At least, as concerned as a one-eyed origami toy could, anyway. “The fact that you didn’t mention combat stressing you out is interesting… But yeah, it’s completely logical to be this stressed out right now. I wish I could give you explanations, Guardian, but we’re just not safe here. We need to get to the city.”

The exo didn’t seem to settle all that much, pacing briefly. “…Look, I at least need _something_ here. You said you’d been looking for me, I remember that. You said it when I woke up.” His violet eyes pierced the dark, staring at the light. “I’m _really_ hoping you know literally anything about me, other than what I’ve already figured out.”

The extended silence was sprinkled with quiet chittering as the light looked him over a bit. “…Your old military jacket, and pardon me, but the fact that you’re an exo wearing it, tells me you were probably a soldier. Or you took it from one.”

“But the fact that I’ve recognized every gun I’ve touched?”

“Tells me you’re a soldier, or at the very least a survivalist who traveled with one… Considering how well you fight, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you were one of the old war machines.”

The exo looked aghast. “An exo war machine? Like the Warmind-possessed terminator robots? Those war machines?”

The light chirped. “Well, there’s a start! I definitely didn’t tell you that one, so that must be a memory. You at least know about the Warmind, so…” It looked aside a bit, shrinking away as it mumbled in thought. “Well, that only raises the probability that you were a war machine…”

“Nice,” the exo nodded, seeming fed up with the conversation already. “Let’s just… Get to the city, I guess. Wherever that is.”

The light flashed and dissipated into nothingness again, reemerging as a voice in the exo’s head. “The jumpship is just ahead… I’ll explain everything once we get to the city. I promise.”

For some reason, that last bit seemed to calm him a bit. He heard the sincerity. War machine or not, he at least had something in his corner… He could tell this little voice was a terrible liar. A trait that seemed to sit just fine with him. He entered an open room, something that looked like an old, defunct museum, and saw an old aeronautic relic hanging from a precarious ceiling… Said relic was also covered in Fallen.

“There’s a ship! Clear them out!”

The exo slipped behind a pillar and sliced the pie, picking off a couple of Fallen before a broad, blue light caught his eye. It was an overshield, and it belonged to something a whole lot larger than the others around it. “Ahhh, crap.”

The Fallen Captain charged right at him, flipping a small container up from the floor. The distraction worked for a second, just long enough for one of its four arms to reach out and grab a hold of the exo’s rifle and forcefully wrench it out of his grip. Not quite tall enough to reach the weapon again, the exo rolled backwards away from the massive Captain just in time to avoid a sweeping strike of its two right arms. Thinking quickly, the exo pulled the shotgun from the sling on his back, sending a few shots scattering over the shield to no avail. After the reappearance of a few more Fallen and the use of some colourful language, the exo rolled to some old debris to reload his shotgun with all he had left. Seeing the blue glow of the shield, his mind called back to a recent memory, and the thought made him grin just a bit behind that crate.

The Fallen moved closer to his cover, the Captain leading the slow advance with a hissing growl. The tall thing peeked over, pointing its massive shotgun down over the debris to find nothing but empty shadow. It snarled in frustration, peering about for its quarry.

“Hey, ugly!”

The Captain looked up to see the exo hopping up over a container, then immediately cringed at the blue ball of electricity that was just tossed its way. It huddled down against the coming blast and the combined elements detonated his overshield, sending a harsh shockwave outward that followed the water puddle to its backup, sending everyone to the ground. The Captain was the only one who got up, seething with an audible anger.

The exo only laughed. “Now we’re talkin’! Just you and me, bud!” He opened a few shotgun blasts on the Captain, who only dashed off behind a crate in response. “Oh no you don’t,” the exo taunted, sprinting up and hopping over the Fallen’s cover and pointing his shotgun down at its head, pulling the trigger right between its surprised eyes… To the sickening sound of a click. “Oh shit.”

The Captain snarled and reached up to catch the exo by the throat, slamming him down on the ground as it began repositioning its own massive shotgun. The exo struggled against the Fallen’s arms in vain as stars floated in his vision. He didn’t realize how short he was compared to this thing. He could hear the voice shouting its concern for him, but some feral panic was setting in as his vision darkened, leaving the fiery glowing barrels of the Fallen’s shotgun to be his forefront focus. He was about to die. Confused, stressed, and with no answers, he was about to die… This definitely did not sit well with him. Some reflexive memory resurfaced from the panic, and his fight was renewed.

Primal instinct kicking in, the exo forced his body around and drove a hard knee into the Captain’s elbow, snapping it the wrong way and giving him a little room to work as the massive Fallen reeled for balance. In the same motion, the exo kicked free the Captain’s knife from its belt and caught it, disregarding his pointless hold on the wrist at his throat in favour of digging that knife as far up from the Captain’s throat to its skull as he could get it. The Captain’s neck opened wide and the exo kicked it off, rolling the massive body to the side as it twitched once and then no more. Finally able to breathe again, he lay there coughing for a moment with the Captain’s knife and tried not to black out. He suddenly felt strangely fine and opened his eyes to see his little glowing friend hovering just over him.

“Are you okay, Guardian?” It chirped with concern, watching him closely.

“...This ground is… Really cold.”

The light only beeped and tilted its shell, seeming relieved. “That was close…” It floated up a bit as the exo regained his footing, its one blue eye now inspecting the hanging ship. “Alright, let me see if I can get us out of here…” It floated up and around the ship as the exo stood just nearby. “It’s been here awhile. Hasn’t made a jump in centuries… We’re lucky the Fallen haven’t picked it clean.”

The exo eyed it skeptically, smirking a bit as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Will it fly?”

The light turned to face him, some obvious flicker of pride in its one blue eye that almost looked like a wink. “I can make it work.”

It disappeared into the ship, not entering any particular part of it but disappearing anyway. The exo didn’t have to wait long for things to start happening. Old internal parts began to move, humming and groaning in the core of the ship. Servos whined as they spun up and the navigation system shook itself online. Lights flickered slowly on, growing brighter as its engines began to turn over and heat up. The relic slowly shifted on its cables, lifting and dipping like a great beast waking from a long slumber. Dust kicked up all around, but the ship held itself aloft on its own power. “Okay,” the voice said from somewhere between the ship and the exo’s mind. “It’s not going to break orbit, but it just might get us to the city. Now, about that transmat…”

The exo found himself smiling at the machine, both for the fact that it ran and that the little voice made it run. He was impressed, to say the least… Then a sound caught his attention. Whipping around, he saw multiple Fallen crawling through a hole in the wall. He smirked, peeking around for the rifle the Captain threw, but found himself gaze-locked with the sheer size of the _thing_ that crawled out next. A great horned monstrosity crept from the darkness, easily three times the size of the Captain that had almost killed him. In one of its four arms was a long rifle that was almost the size of the exo himself.

“Bringing you in!”

The exo flinched momentarily as gravity suddenly failed and his vision went awry. It was a few seconds before he was able to recognize anything solid, and that the shifting ground he’d landed on was actually the floor of the ship as it lifted off out of the building. “We can come back for them when you’re ready,” the voice informed. “…Let’s get you home.”

The exo sat up once he figured out where up was, completely disheveled by the transmat and staring at the inside of his ship as it leapt up past the clouds, giving a fine view of the stars above. He found his footing long enough to reach the seat, finding the controls were already handled. “Uuhhh… Little buddy?”

“Yes?” The light flared into view, staring at him curiously. It seems it could pilot the ship without being… “In” it.

The exo found this somewhere between terrifying and relieving, if it were possible. “Alright, so… Nothing’s gonna try and shoot us down here, huh?”

“Shouldn’t be.” It chittered.

“Annnnd you said you don’t have a name ‘yet’?”

“No not yet, you-… Oh, this is ridiculous.”

The exo blinked, confused and only slightly nervous by the sudden impatience. “What?”

“Your name!” The light laughed, floating just to the exo’s shoulder. “This has got to be it, it’s been right here this whole time, on the inside of your jacket collar!”

The exo lit up a bit. “Really? What’s it say?!”

“Schade-9!”

The exo blinked his eyes open… His ghost only used his number when he was irritated with him. “Whaaaaaaaaat?” He rolled a bit on the cushion he’d plopped down on, cloak dangling far off to the side as he pretended to be drowsy.

“I swear, you act like you don’t sleep at all once you get to the Tower… You can’t possibly be so sleep-deprived that you zonk out the moment you get down here.”

The hunter stretched his arms upward, intertwining his fingers as he sprawled even further in the room. “M’ daydreamin’,” was his response.

“Of _what?_ You’ve been laying here for over an hour now.”

“Cosmodrome.”

The ghost rolled his core, buzzing a bit. “Oh, you say that just to make me feel bad for waking you, don’t you?”

“Time we first met?”

The ghost didn’t have a comeback other than a few unintelligible chitters.

“Ah, let him nap,” came the voice of the titan seated just next to him, legs crossed just under Schade’s outstretched arms. “Traveler knows, he doesn’t get to hear any new music until he comes back here to the lounge.”

Schade snapped his fingers and pointed at the titan. “True that.”

“I think you just like it here,” his ghost beeped. “You big housecat, you.”

“Aww, c’mon, Ori!” The hunter reached up with both hands to catch his ghost, forcibly snuggling him much to his paltry resistance. “Come cuddle! Y’know you want to!”

The titan laughed loudly as the ghost laughed and struggled in vain to get away from his guardian’s grasp. “You think you’d be used to that by now, you know? Why are you fighting?”

Ori phased out of Schade’s grip, glaring at the titan. “And you’re no help, Civil!”

Schade laughed as his brother jested with his ghost, folding his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. It seemed like it was just a short while ago that they were finding their friends in the Tower. So many successful missions, all the loot they’ve gotten. This is why he enjoyed snoozing on the cushions. He got to remember every bit of it, time by time.

“Hey guys, eyes up!” A red-shaded warlock came down the stairs, waving a small PDA at his hunter and titan team mates before tossing it on Schade’s belly. “Seems like a lot of action’s going on at the Hellmouth. Lots of guardians disappearing out there, rescue missions are being called in… Put your vex books away, Schade, we’re going to the moon!”

The general, lazy cheer from both the hunter and the titan was just what they needed to get up from their comfortable cushions. Schade reached down to the floor next to him and picked up his Eirene RR4, a brand-new sniper rifle his warlock friend swears he stole and that his titan brother has no comment for. Nonetheless, he takes great care of it.

The warlock turned to him. “Gonna break that thing in, finally?”

The hunter shrugged. “Eh, might get _some_ proof of firing on it…”

The titan thought out loud as the three of them headed out the door. “The Hellmouth is pretty dicey right now… Think we’ll need backup going in?”

Schade shrugged, shouldering his long rifle. “Naaahh, we’ll be fine…”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been dedicated to helpfulDeathgod, an otherwise complete stranger who has inspired me to stop complaining about how miserable I am and get back into writing. My regards, and please don't stop being so naturally good with your pacing... Which is a problem I tend to have. ;]


	2. The Dancer's Folly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get another glimpse at Schade-9 and what has shaped his reality. The Hellmouth and his experiences with the Hive have changed him forever, creating a terrible curse of distrust in everyone around him. He is known in the Crucible as the hunter with the titan mark and is generally feared in the arena, but somehow, the Tower staff seems to enjoy his company. Just as our exo leaves to continue on his duties, the past returns from the dark to start the domino effect.

**The Dancer’s Folly**

Luna was as she always has been. Cold, eerie, and deceptively bright despite its near-black sky. The Earth hung high over her surface, but that wasn’t where their gazes were. The Hellmouth, a great pit lined with hellish barbs that yawned to the universe, unabashed of the evils held within. The bridge that led to its center surface-level was almost complete.

“Says they’re starting to lose count of how many fireteams they’ve lost,” the titan said as he turned to his warlock and hunter fireteam. “I saw a whole team of six go down here last week… Come to think of it, I haven’t heard from them yet.”

The red warlock tilted his head, silent in his gold helmet. He eyed the bridge as it was forming in horrid greenish mist, gaze following down into the pit. “…Actually rather intimidating. There are fireteams that have been missing for years because of this place.”

“What, you scared, Kace?” Schade strode up behind them, having only been a few steps away before he shouldered his sniper rifle. He had every bit the look of someone who’d already been bored to bullet shells with the Hive. “We got this. We could literally redecorate all of our quarters with all the thrall skulls we’ve accumulated. Worst we can expect are shriekers, and knowing how cluttered the Hive are, there will be plenty of cover to hide from those. Damn hatred chandeliers…”

Civil shrugged, bumping Schade with his shoulder. “I dunno, these Hive might be different,” he said with a put-on tone. “The guardians disappearing down there might find the place so clean, they just don’t _want_ to leave. They might have cleaning worms down there.” He gave a stern look at the warlock. _“Worm roombas...”_

They all gave a snicker as the bridge completed itself, grumbling into existence until it solidified with a percussive whisper. The three of them stood in silence for a moment, mostly hiding their tension, before Schade finally stepped forward. “C’mon guys, we got this!” Ever the driving light, he started running for the bridge with a chuckle. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!”

“Oh no, you don’t!” Kace took off right after him, shaking off his tension with the laughter.

Civil rolled his shoulders, saying nothing as he sprinted after his brothers.

The three hopped in, Schade leading the dive with a midair spin to peek at his two fireteam members as the pale green light began to draw them into the pit. It was a strange sensation, like a lift but flowing gently downward… Until it suddenly felt wrong.

Schade felt it first when the energy shifted, dragging them down as though gravity just wasn’t enough to do the trick. The mist faded into blackness as the green-gold lights of Hive moths zipped past them with increasing speed. They fell for far too long to be comfortable, hearing the rapidly passing shrieks of the Hive embedded in the walls, until there was nothing but Luna’s thickening atmosphere slicing past their helmets. All too sudden did the ground appear, and Schade felt his shins splinter with the impact. It would have panicked him, had it been the first time it had happened.

The horrid crunching of the other two’s legs followed almost immediately after, and their ghosts were quick to respond, repairing them as though nothing happened. Ori made a concerned face as Schade straightened in the dark. “Not to worry you, but that took a little more effort to heal you than usual. Better play it safe if we go deeper.”

Civil turned to face them, straightening his spine a bit. “Alright, so don't die,” he reasoned somewhat quietly.

“Dark as hell in here,” Kace almost whispered, peering through the pitch down the barrel of his pulse rifle.

Schade looked up to the place they had fallen, having to squint to see the speck of haze-green light from above. They had fallen a great deal. He was more surprised that all they came away with were shattered shins instead of their femurs lodged into their skulls. Letting out a bit of a breath, he peered out past their tiny ring of half-light, seeing the pillars just at the edge of the darkness and what looked like another light glimmering faintly in the distance. “There,” he gestured with one hand, unholstering his sniper rifle with the other. “Head towards that.”

The room was so vast and empty, they had expected an echo at the sound of their voices, but all seemed muffled like the darkness didn’t even want sound to escape it. Schade took point, Civil close behind peering to the right and Kace angled left in the rear. The moment they stepped outside the ring, their boots crunched bones, and distant clicks and screams could be heard. The guardians raised their rifles sharply as glowing green eyes seem to burn into existence from the black, closing in with unsettling speed and numbers.

Schade popped a few Hive heads as they came into view. “Get to the light,” he shouted to the two and tried to sprint, but something felt truly wrong. His legs felt like lead, and everything seemed to creep upward and weigh down more heavily as he moved. He spun to see Kace throw a thrall off of himself, almost stumbling as he tried to keep up with Civil just nearby.

“Schade, something is very wrong here,” Ori said urgently from the back of his mind, breaking the silence. He would only speak in combat if it was important, and the exo took the otherwise obvious words very seriously. “I-it feels like… We’re getting further from the light. Schade, we need to go back, _now.”_

Civil dispatched as many thrall as he could, but more kept charging from the pitch like his shotgun was nothing to fear for their numbers. “We’re definitely in over our heads, lil’ brother,” he panted as he grabbed Kace by the pauldron and tried to move faster toward their distant light.

They kept coming… _They just kept coming._ Schade forsook his rifle for the use of his hand cannon, trying to turn fast enough to keep the glowing claws out of his body but failing here and there. He saw movement more rapid than usual and turned to see a thrall leap from a pile of bones and slash its talons through Kace’s throat, one jumping on Civil as he turned to help keep the warlock’s now visible ghost from the same fate. Schade turned to the sensation of something coming up behind him and saw for a fraction of a second the raised, glowing blade of a massive knight coming down on him.

He jolted awake as Ori revived him and quickly disappeared, thoughts now racing as fear started to set in. He spun to see Civil, now horribly mauled by the enveloping thrall. Kace was up again, but already getting just as overwhelmed as the titan. Blood was everywhere now.

_ This is all wrong._

He could barely move now. He forced himself up off the ground just in time to be met with another thrall’s gripping claws, shooting it just in time to be faced with the reappearance of the knight. He knew he was wounded, but he couldn’t feel it. Civil’s ghost briefly flashed into view in an attempt to revive him, while Kace forced himself back with his sunsinger’s brilliant light. Schade turned to defend himself once more from a second knight, moving away from the blade’s downward slash and straight into a pair of acolytes amid more thrall.

_ This is a disaster._

His eyes opened again to see Civil abandoning his shotgun and going hands-on with everything he saw, faint electricity sparking everywhere in the darkness. Kace had just gone down, shouting for his ghost to stay hidden amid the shrieking, swarming chaos. Schade forced himself to his feet and threw a grenade at a large group of surging thrall, illuminating the hordes previously unseen… Their sheer numbers terrified him. Kace wasn’t moving now. Civil had three thrall climbing over him and an acolyte closing in. Something had just grabbed the titan's ghost…

_ This is my fault…_

Schade felt a horrible pain in his leg as he mindlessly lunged for Civil, trying to grab any part of him he could, to pull him out of the thrall. His senses dulled, though he felt the familiar titan mark clutched in his fist. Ori was shouting something, but he could barely hear him. He would never let go of that mark. He felt himself leave the ground, clutched in terrible claws as some cloaked monstrosity levitated upwards with him, locking his gaze with a terror the likes of which he’d never felt before. The whisper was unbearable. Deafening. Nothing else existed. The hellish nightmare of that thing’s voice as it bored into his mind. The back of his skull burned.

The darkness ensued.

Pain and overwhelming, roaring silence.

A terrible laugh.

Nothing else existed.

The darkness suddenly broke. No, not suddenly. The green mist had been closing in steadily, he had only just now noticed it. The familiar sound of Ori frantically shouting at him broke the current reality in half. He could feel Civil’s mark in his fist… But the titan was not on the other end of it. His senses flooded back to him and his eyes slowly focused on the surface of Luna, the Hellmouth and its bridge just before him. His ears rang, but he definitely heard Kace getting up behind him.

“What the _fuck?!_” The warlock cursed as his voice shook, still panting from the panic. His frightened ghost was still healing him. “…Where is Civil?”

Schade’s stomach knotted painfully. The ensuing silence was most unwelcome and met with the buzzing of his own mechanical heart trying to stop from the realization that there were only two of them. Ori was beside himself, his shell gashed on one side as he muttered shaking apologies for forcing the transmat to the surface. Schade couldn’t hear the exact words as he stared at the bridge.

His world tilted with the realization… _My brother is still down there._

“Civil!” He shot to his feet, fueled by a panicked determination as he started for the bridge again, only to be grabbed by Kace. He fought his warlock friend just as hard as he had the thrall in the dark. “No! He’s still _down there!_ We have to _get him back!”_

“No, Schade!” Kace was to the point of trying to grapple him to the ground as the exo started to overpower him. “We can’t! Just _stop it!”_ The warlock drove a knee into the hunter’s leg, finally pinning the frantic guardian to the ground. “We don’t stand a chance down there, dammit!”

Schade only tried to fight harder, but couldn’t break free of the warlock’s determined grip. “Let me go!” He pleaded frantically, angrily. _“We can’t just leave him there!”_ His voice was cracking.

Kace put the squirming hunter in a headlock on the ground, their ghosts helpless but to watch as they fought on the ground for purchase. “Dammit, Schade, _STOP!”_

The exo finally did stop, just inches from the ledge as the bridge dematerialized slowly before them, revealing the opening of the Hellmouth unhindered. He still grasped for the cusp of the structure, but there was nothing he could do to fight the warlock that was only just big enough to pin him. The arm around his neck made it difficult to breathe, but it slowed him enough to sense a little more of what was going on around him. He could still hear Ori in the back of his mind, speaking in a language only they could understand, wordlessly begging him to calm down. To forgive him for what he’d just done.

Kace was out of breath, still refusing to let the exo go. _“Stop,”_ he said in a much calmer voice, knowing he had him under control at last. “We can’t get him, Schade. We can’t…”

_ We can’t…_

It finally sunk in. Schade stopped reaching, and Kace loosened his grip. They were both out of breath, one shaking just that much harder than the other. The Hellmouth spanned before them in uncaring silence. It was a sickening contrast to the warlock as he tried to reason with the hunter, who was no longer listening.

_ We lost him…_

Schade slowly brought himself up to his knees, staring into the abyss. He could vaguely feel Kace put his hand on his shoulder, holding him again just in case he tried to make another break for it. There was speaking, but he wasn’t hearing.

_ I lost him._

He felt cold. He felt the torn mark in his hands. It was cold.

_ This is my fault._

Grief froze him. He felt heavier now than he did with the darkness clinging to him. He stared blankly down at his brother’s mark.

_ My fault…_

He could hear the whispering of the Hive in the back of his mind, slowly overtaking the ringing in his ears. Everything was overwhelming all at once, and he just couldn’t react. Everything was getting so dark. The Hive were all around him. His skull and down his spine burned. Amid the turmoil, he could vaguely sense Ori calling out to him.

It was somehow… Different. Urgent, but not panicked. Despite the overriding chaos, Ori’s voice felt like a path. It took several tries, but he attempted to mentally follow it.

_ “Schade, it’s okay.”_

_ How was _any_ of this okay?_

“I’m here.”

He could somewhat see the blue light in front of him. Gravity felt null, and things seemed dark and unusual. Tilted.

“Schade, it’s alright… Wake up. I’m here.”

His eyes began to focus again. He could see Ori now, his one link left in the universe to sanity.

“Slow your breathing.”

He was hyperventilating. Those weren’t eyes, those were stars. He was in his cockpit, with a deathgrip on his reclined pilot’s seat.

“Schade, come on,” Ori coaxed gently, just within reach. Most would know better than to get anywhere near someone having a night terror, but Ori knew Schade would never mistake him for something else. “I’m right here, it’s alright. It’s just us.”

His whole body was numb, hands and face tingling as he slowly came to his senses. He blinked and remembered a little more about actual reality, making a monumental attempt to slow his breathing and disentangle his grip on his chair. His head still spun. “God…” He let out a choked, shaking whisper as he brought his hands up to his face, rubbing as though trying to wipe away the horrible memory.

“That’s it, you’re alright.” Ori hovered over and softly set himself down on Schade’s chest, where he was almost instantly taken up into the hunter’s quivering hands and held close. “I’m here…” He knew they would stay like this for a while. They always did. Schade was a very lucid dreamer, and he would spend the next good chunk of their “morning” quietly talking to him because of that, waiting for his hunter to come back to himself.

The Tower bustled, as usual. The awoken saleswoman advertised her rare goods to any passersby, the vanguard frames managed the bounty boards, and the exo arms dealer continued to shake his head at the various guardians climbing precariously on the central tree. A normal evening in the home of the guardians, all scurrying about even as the stars came out.

“Another well-played match,” the Crucible handler nodded, addressing a guardian at his station just downstairs. “Fight like that again, but mind your control. You get a little flighty when you’re surrounded… But I suppose that’s what makes you all the more dangerous, doesn’t it?”

Schade chuckled, placing a small stack of tokens on the handler’s desk. “I can’t help it, I get so excited.” He peered up at the man who towered over him, tall even by a titan’s standards.

Lord Shaxx folded his arms, somehow looking even larger for a moment. “Oh, trust me… I can tell.” There was little amusement in the giant’s tone, and it made Schade shrink a little.

“Right,” the much shorter hunter laughed nervously, averting his gaze a bit. “Think I’m gonna call it a day here, though. Head out into the field… I’ll bring you something nice.” He shrugged, then gave a salute as he started walking off. “I’ll definitely work on that, though! Sir!”

The massive striker titan only nodded where he stood. “You better, hunter. Keep your blades sharp.” He held a calm-before-the-storm aura to him, perhaps appropriate to his class.

Ori only spoke as they began ascending the stairs into the main courtyard. “I think he likes you.”

Schade scoffed, playfully shoving his ghost as they walked. “Riiiiight, and I’m secretly a Vex mind in disguise… Speaking of, let’s go to Venus.”

The ghost audibly groaned. “Tell me we’re not going to the Ishtar Sink again…”

“Always.”

“Don’t you think you’ve stood on those plates enough? If those minotaurs hit you any harder, they just might give you brain damage that I won’t be able to heal. I’m not totally convinced you’re not secretly a _thanatonaut_ in disguise… Have you been hanging around the warlock Vanguard again?”

“Again, you got me,” the hunter said with upturned palms, eliciting a core-roll from Ori. “What? I like listening to her mutter! She has intelligent mutters, I love it.” As they stepped up the final stairs just near the bounty board, the exo grinned at the activity. Guardians were everywhere, and stray ghosts floated here and about from point to point. He looked up to see the Traveler in its sleeping glory. “You know… I’m going to go fly inside of that thing one day,” he said with a nod. “Right there, right where that damaged opening is… Think anyone’s tried it yet?”

Ori only shook his core dismissively, accessing his bounty logs with a thoughtful chirping. “Stop distracting yourself. You're worse than the hunter Vanguard when you leave the Crucible… Looks like you’ve got three more bounties to do. Weapon tuning for Banshee-44… Culling the Fallen… You’ve already got Grayliks, I’ll scratch that one off…” He read down his mental list and Schade just seemed to watch and wait, smiling just a bit wider as Ori sighed a little. “…And then there’s all your bounties on Venus.”

“Exactly! We’ll be in the area anyway.”

“Nope. Too late. I’ve already downloaded a Vanguard bounty fresh off the board,” Ori said smugly, then blinked. “Oh…”

Schade frowned, tilting his head suspiciously. “What?”

“Looks like the titan Vanguard sent a hit on Valus Ta’aurc… Looks pretty important.” Ori turned to face him fully. “There’s a number of names already on this one. If you get on this one, it looks like you’ll be in a fireteam.”

Schade shrugged. “Oh well, looks like my studies on the vex will have to wait another day.”

“Yeah, whether you wanted it or not…”

“Guess I’m in the mood for a little space-rhino hunting,” the exo said with a smirk, then strode off to the transmat vaults for his loadout. “It’ll give me a break from the Crucible, I guess.”

Ori hovered over Schade's shoulder, peering at the screen. A typical hunter, his guardian hoarded everything of interest he'd ever found. Various interesting guns and armour pieces, stockpiles of planetside materials from everywhere he'd gone, and a fair handful of strange coins. The ghost buzzed briefly as Schade scrolled the page. “When are you going to take that Vex head to the Awoken out on the Reef?”

“What, pretty boy and his sisterfriend?” He chuckled as Ori squinted at him. “Eh, someday. Prob'ly when I'm done _actually_ finding the Black Garden on Venus. Where those two blueberries are totally hiding it from us.”

Ori tilted his shell a bit. “A bunch of simulation robots would be so obvious, you think?”

“I mean, it could be on Earth. Maybe where New Zealand used to be?”

“That's a desert...”

“I'm telling you, they can manipulate time!” Schade turned to his ghost with bright eyes, apparently having opened a whole new can of worms. Ori was patient with it, as he always was when Schade got talking about the Vex. “Every study I've made on them regarding their physical states on both Venus and Mars suggests they can not only move to different points in time, but actually _control_ time in certain areas through the use of their portals. Theoretically, they could have simulated gates through the area and returned to a point where the New Zealand desert was actually lush and green and full of biodiversity, like how it was during the Golden Age.”

Ori grinned a little, more heard in his voice than seen in the tilt of his shell. “True... So, are we going to the desert now, or...?”

“Nah,” Schade dismissively tossed his hand up as he returned to his storage vault. “Might as well see what the Vanguard wants with Val the Tarp.”

“Valus Ta'aurc...”

“Yeah, that.”

“That means you're going to go into a fireteam.”

Schade frowned, finishing his loadout selection and closing access to the vault. “...I mean, _working_ _with_ guardians in the field would be a neat change of pace from _gutting_ them in the Crucible. Repeatedly.”

Ori shook his core disapprovingly, then glanced down at the tattered titan mark hanging on his hunter's belt. It's been years, and time has been unkind in the aftermath. “You could always try scouring the Dead Orbit roster? See who's available to go headhunting?”

Schade scoffed. “Yeah, _my_ head.”

Ori was ever patient. “All I'm saying is it would be good to team up and get some social interaction again. You're turning into a hermit-”

“Look, Kace moved on a long time ago,” the hunter said suddenly as he detached from the terminal. “Went off radar and got married, I heard. Got himself a life, and it ain't got anything to do with me. Last few 'encounters' we've had with him, that's been made evident.” When he got impatient, he sounded more like a typical exo and less like the young man he put in front. It was one of the many warning signs Ori took when the ghost was going too far in the wrong area. “If he can move on that hard, then I think we'd better start getting the hint.”

“Alright...” Ori was always delicate about the topic of teaming up with others. Ever since the incident at the Hellmouth, Schade had never been the same, and it frustrated what remained of his fireteam to no end. They had all left one by one, Kace being the last and easily the most infuriated with Schade's illness-like state. Had Ori not forced Schade to gradually return to a normal life, he feared these last eight years would have been abruptly ended a great deal earlier. After Schade's first encounter with a guardian out for his blood on behalf of one of his former fireteam members, he entered the Crucible and never seemed to return but to study the Vex or to collect loot. His brutality in the Crucible was only rivaled by his stubbornness when it came to befriending other guardians. He had become impossibly paranoid, but with Ori's help, he had at least regained some of his own personal character again. “...But you better not be forming any weird habits on me.”

Schade offered a comically drawn out “nah” while he reached for one of his knives and started flipping it as he walked toward the hangar. “Might keep collecting strange coins... Start a strange coin bank... Charge guardians legendary shards to store their strange coins... In a strange coin gallery...”

“Let's just... Go to Mars.”

_ “Strange coins...”_

“Oh boy...”

“All this new blood, and the enemy still encroaches...” Commander Zavala pooled over various screens from multiple handhelds strewn out on the table before him. He let out a tired sigh, leaning heavily on his hands as he stood with horrible posture over the table.

“Don't do that,” Ikora lightly chastized the titan Vanguard.

“Do what?”

“Worry. It does nothing to help your 'new blood'... Which happens to be coming in now,” the warlock Vanguard smiled calmly from her studies without looking up, referring to the younger titan entering the room at a jog.

Zavala looked up, first at Ikora with a quirked brow and then at the newer guardian who walked up to him. “Ah, guardian. How are the front lines holding?”

The hunter Vanguard across the table largely failed to hide the snort at Zavala's sudden change of face. How an exo snorts is a mystery, but if they can breathe, then they can snort. “Hey, I'd be temperamental too, if I had to look at screens all day... Oh wait, I am.” He shot a bored look at Ikora, who happened to be just on the other side of the table from him.

“Cayde, you're staring at a map. If only I _could_ get you to look at some screens, your fresh hunters might be better equipped to pick up the slack.”

“Ey, ey,” the hunter said with a wave of both hands. “My hunters are doing just fine out in the wild, it totally builds character... And I like this map, it's precious,” he added with a quieter tone.

Zavala bid the younger titan on his way, then returned to the others with a sigh from his end of the long table. “I worry for good reason... The Hive are becoming more active, and the Vex seem to be infinitely stable in numbers, no matter how hard the Cabal hit them.” He straightened a little more, now realizing why Ikora had chided him. His back was tense.

Ikora finally put her device down, offering the titan the same wry smile. “The new guardians are doing just fine, in reality,” she explained. “They've been keeping Lord Shaxx busy by fighting in the Crucible. I have seen many young lights go in with the experienced and come out looking all the brighter... They will be fine.”

“The Crucible does not carry on in the same direction as the Vanguard,” Zavala grumbled.

“Though I can admit, Ikora's got a point,” Cayde shrugged. “I've seen some real vicious guardians come outta there... Hell, I wouldn't wanna cross some of these kids on a bad day. Oh man, I gotta say...” He chuckled a little, looking right to Ikora. “Did you see the last few matches earlier? My creepy little exo kid? He reminds me of Tevis, in a weird way.”

Ikora smiled. Oh, she always watches the Crucible matches. “If Tevis had half the curiosity in that head of his, then I could see the resemblance.”

“You need to quit stealin' him, though...”

“I'm not stealing,” she defended with an implied laugh. “He thinks he's being sneaky by coming in while I study. I just... Happen to think out loud sometimes when he's here.”

Zavala first shakes his head, then finally relaxes just enough to offer a small smile. “You're talking about that Schade-9 hunter, correct?”

Cayde nods. “Kid's got some demons, not gonna lie, but he's just a _spectacle_ when he gets going. Just watched him bait the entire enemy fireteam guardian by guardian into one room and just _zzzap!_ I mean, he just goes k' _pow! Zip-zip-zap!_ And just like that, they're all down.”

Zavala nods. “Now if only he could utilize that strength in his Vanguard duties.”

“According to his logs, he's scoured all of the Ishtar Sink on Venus from the Cinders to the Shattered Coast, and even across the length of the Terminus.” Ikora slid her handheld in Zavala's direction. “When he's not lingering just north of the Waking Ruins, I hear he's moving past our recorded boundaries... That should make even you proud, Cayde.”

“Oh, it does.”

Zavala put down the device Ikora had handed him, quirking a brow a bit. “This is some good intel on the Vex. But I'm concerned this might be an unhealthy obsession.” He grew sterner, brow darkening. He was looking at Ikora. “We all know what happened the last time one of our guardians held an obsession for them.”

Ikora's calm expression finally turned into a frown. “Schade's interest in the Vex is a powerful one, but I assure you, the resemblance stops there...”

“Aaaaand I'm out,” Cayde said quietly as he forced his gaze down at his map, clear of the two before they could start arguing. He wanted no part of that one.

As if on cue, a frame came jogging down the main steps, stopping just short of the second batch that led to their table. “Vanguard! There is a currently benign situation in the courtyard.” It stood at attention, glancing to the three powerful guardians who now stared at it with unsettling intensity. “A listed missing guardian has returned from the moon. She has directly requested to speak with you,” it said as it turned to pointedly face Ikora...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Back when I played in the Crucible all those years ago, I was a holy terror and no one loved me... It was a different climate back then. I'm not nearly as good as I once was.
> 
> \- Schade (pronounced "shade") wears Civil's mark on his belt where a titan would traditionally wear theirs. It is his version of the hardcase cloak for his fallen brother... Coincidentally, Schade's name in German literally translates to "what a shame," as if referencing his poorly-timed moments of terrible luck.
> 
> \- Kace was initially given a different name by his creator and was changed here; just as the character, his player actually did get married. I'm unsure if he still plays Destiny.
> 
> \- Civil is a human striker titan played by an extremely good friend of mine, who actually had to temporarily abandon the game due to health reasons. I don't know if he will ever come back to the game... But I'm hoping he does.
> 
> \- I also have lucid night terrors as a result of PTSD, so what Schade experiences here is taken from what I experience from time to time. I wanted the situation to be as realistic as possible, so I pulled from my own experiences on the matter.
> 
> \- Schade sounds more like Steve Burton instead of Peter Jessop (the male exo's voice actor) until he gets angry enough.
> 
> \- Schade also happens to be somewhat short for a guardian, only about 5'9".


	3. Shells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schade-9 embarks on a Vanguard bounty to break from the norm. After years of fighting, dying, and growing alone, he finds himself in a small fireteam in the freezing Martian deserts, relearning how to work with his fellow guardians. All seems to go well until a familiar dread worms its way into their efforts...

**Shells**

Cabal were huge. At around nine hundred pounds, and with feet the size of end tables, it wasn't difficult to track their movements across the cold Martian sands. A Dust Giant legionary idled briefly in the wind over a distant dune, dark green and yellow armour glinting briefly as he bent over to inspect the ground for some thing or another. He was ringed by a rifle scope that followed his every movement.

“Space turtles,” said a guardian from behind Schade, which made him roll his eyes briefly.

“They'll stomp you flat...”

The female hunter only cocked her hips sideways and propped her pulse rifle on her shoulder. “They gotta catch me first, and I doubt they can move all that well in this sand.”

“The wind looks like it's moved everythin',” said the exo titan just near her. He looked fairly new, but definitely looked well acquainted with his weapons at least.

Schade withdrew from his dune with a sigh, pulling himself and his sniper rifle back from line of sight before standing. “The big guys practically live in this sand and you're anticipating they don't know how it shifts on a regular basis.” He hung his rifle over his back and started walking along the way. Ori sent a thought through his head. 'Be nice,' came the thought, which was met with a silent and truly flippant 'no' in response.

The other two joined him as he walked. “I've been out here for _ months _ studying this area,” came the other hunter's proud response. “The windstorms can last for days and move the dunes so much, you typically have to remap the place.”

Schade didn't seem to care. “The dunes shift to the south during the spring and then shift west for the six summer months. The aphelion rearranges pretty much everything pretty inconsistently, unless it's been unseasonably wet. The sand can set like concrete sometimes, so it would only get taller. Everything gradually shifts back north every fall with a little bit of eastern wiggle unless you're in the Buried City, and winter tends to throw everything west regardless of the weather.”

The hunter balked, but the titan openly chortled. “Just how long have ye been here, friend?”

“Long enough to find the pattern,” Schade dismissed as Ori summoned his sparrow for him. He peered back at them with one leg over it. “Long and short of it, the rhinos are anything but clumsy, so don't underestimate just how quickly they can jump on you.”

As Schade started to accelerate, the titan brought up his sparrow and hurried to follow, still chuckling as he shook his head. The hunter, now humbled and irritated, followed on her own sparrow, making a mocking sound before she took off.

“Let's find access to their system,” Ori started over the fireteam's comms. “See if we can track down Valus Ta'aurc.”

“I remember there's a tunnel a bit further north,” the titan informed. “If our ghosts can override the door, that's how we can get in.”

“Then that's exactly what we're gonna do.” The human hunter had somewhat caught up with them. “Name's Trish, by the way.”

“Meteor-5! Pleased to meet ye!” The titan was almost too cheerful for his own good.

Schade held his silence.

“Guess we're calling our fearless leader Dickhead-1!” Trish laughed, garnering a dismissive snort from Meteor.

“Hell, I like that,” Schade smirked. Not like he was going to see these guardians again unless he was killing them in the Crucible.

They sped around the corner to an open area, all falling silent as they zipped past oncoming fire from the Cabal that massed around the perimeter. Schade saw the structure ahead and gunned it ahead of the others, ramping his sparrow on a dune that threw him over a particularly nasty detachment. He saw a colossus below and jerked the stabilizer controls, tilting his sparrow and careening its flaming jets into the massive Cabal's helmet. He felt rather than heard the soldier's neck snap from the weight of his vehicle and dismounted on impact. Then, with a grace that would make a gymnast blush with jealousy, Schade hit the ground and rolled to his feet, sliding a bit on the metal flooring of the bunker before going right into a brisk walk to the controls.

By the time the other two caught up, Schade already had Ori out trying to assess the various controls in the room. Trish only stared. “You're definitely a dancer,” she said with a pointed finger. “You've got to teach me those moves.”

“I don't teach.”

“Just learn by watchin', that's what I do.” Meteor kicked off of his sparrow and brought out a hand cannon to stand point at the gate.

Trish smirked behind her helmet, gaze returning to Schade as his ghost finally found a proper terminal. Her eyes trailed down to the titan mark on his belt and the realization hit her like a slap to the face. “Oh, shit... You're that Crucible hunter.”

Had the exo not been wearing a helmet, perhaps Trish would have seen how sharp his gaze was on her. “Yeah, what of it? I killed you before?”

His dismissive behaviour about it only unsettled her more. “Uh, yeah. Once or twice. Couple weeks ago on Firebase Delphi, actually...”

“Huh...”

The two stood in silence for a moment before Ori disengaged from the terminal, certain to give Schade a scornful look before disappearing back into his helmet. “...I've secured a path,” the ghost said over comms. “Meteor's guess is right, that tunnel will take us right to where the Vanguard says Valus Ta'aurc is hiding. Follow it to the break.”

“Sounds good t'me!” Meteor said as he pushed forward, more or less dragging the other two with him by extension.

Trish seemed to hesitate a pace before jogging up to join them. To say she was wary of the infamous hunter was an understatement.

The push through the tunnel was a fairly simple one. The three guardians made short work of the Cabal detachments in their way until they made it out into the open, where only a watchtower and a blind dropoff into a small valley awaited them. This time, it was Trish's turn to send her ghost after the controls, leaving the two exos to dominate the opponents around them.

Ori chirped into the comms after her ghost shared the data among them. “Not far from here, but it looks like they've already hit the alarms for us.”

They congregated toward the dropoff, Trish sauntering up next to Meteor with a smirk. “Sounds like a party to me. Just hope they bring enough for everyone.”

Schade had just gotten line of sight over the ridge when he seemed to flinch and immediately roll to the side, directly in front of Meteor, who just stared at him in confusion before an incendiary mortar scattered him downfield.

Ori chittered nervously. “Tank, that's a tank!”

“You don't say?”

Trish cursed and sprinted behind a smaller chunk of cover as the Goliath tank began to refocus and mobilize. “I hate these things so much...”

Schade crept up into the rocks and peered around a nook with his sniper rifle drawn, lining up the crosshairs along the critical joint on the thrusters. It was mobile, but nothing he couldn't handle. A single squeeze of the trigger and a pressure bearing erupted from its rear well. Apparently pissed off, the tank turned its barrel toward Schade and began glowing. Schade made a face from inside his helmet and rolled back around the rocks to narrowly dodge a mortar that went right through the hole in the formation. He shot a look at the other hunter as she opened fire with her pulse rifle on the second rear well. “That weapon's not gonna do shit from here, you have to get closer.”

“Hell no, _ you _ get closer to the angry tank!” She ducked down in time to avoid a shot from the Goliath as well. The mortar struck squarely on her boulder, knocking it loose enough to rock it and sending dust and charred dirt all around her. She shook her head from the shock and cringed at Schade across the way. “You see any cover out there?”

The exo scowled a little. “Here I thought you were itching for a fight...” He strapped his sniper against his back again and pulled out a shotgun, then rolled out of cover and went hopping down into the trench, running at an angle around the tank.

“You really _ are _ insane!” She opened fire on the thing, but it was already turning to face Schade. There was nothing for her to target other than hard armoured plating, and the machine had no interest in her to face its targeting system her way.

Schade strafed until he was less than a hundred feet away from the Goliath, baiting it to turn towards him. As its front squared itself in the hunter's direction, its targeting lights dimmed and it suddenly lurched forward with an impressive burst of speed. It was going to run him over. The exo, seemingly uncaring about the situation, tilted his head and ran right at it. Ori audibly cringed over the comms...

Trish watched as the mad hunter sprinted and slid directly under the tank. She could hear either a shotgun blast or the exo's body hit the tank the moment he'd disappeared under the front bumper, then the tank lurched unhealthily as it suddenly started dragging its back end. Schade had come out the back of the tank a little disoriented after having apparently been hit by it, but it was nothing his ghost couldn't fix in a jiffy.

Schade shook off what remained of his stun and went back into combat mode. The tank dragged itself to face Schade once more, this time opening its targeting systems on him... All of them. He slacked his shoulders with a shake of his head and readied himself to endure the mortar's blast radius, but a flash from above caught his eye.

Meteor came leaping off of the high rockface with a roar, arc energies flickering all around him as he came down from his high place for one hell of a thundercrash, striking both fists down on top of the Goliath's middle with an ear-splitting smash. In a chain reaction between being nearly snapped in half and all the titan's arc light chasing rabbits through its system, the tank sputtered and flopped as light erupted from its engine core and it began to combust. The titan dismounted the wreckage as it exploded, showering bits of itself all around them into the sand. “..._ That's _ how you take care'va tank,” he said with a thumb jerked behind him in the burning pile's direction. It responded with one more small explosion.

Trish shook her head and joined them, careful of her step around the smoking metal. “You always make an entrance like that?”

“Eh,” came the titan's response.

Schade raised a browplate, then holstered his shotgun. “I see why you're called 'Meteor'... Now let's get moving. All the Cabal in the area will have heard that.”

Trish gave a mock salute as her ghost started transmatting her sparrow for her. “Aye, Dickhead-1, sir!”

Meteor only laughed again as he brought out his sparrow and attempted to catch up with Schade, who had already taken off on his own.

Clearing another pass, they found themselves in an open area filled with more Cabal units. Meteor had tried Schade's tactic of using his sparrow as a weapon and ramped it into a group of phalanxes, but only succeeded in detonating the vehicle like a jet-propelled grenade. It worked fine just the same. His ghost seemed ridiculously patient with the titan's otherwise stupidity-induced deaths, even if Trish seemed to be losing patience with the recklessness.

Schade stepped into the structure ahead, shotgun drawn as he moved through the close corridors. His fireteam was just behind him with the same alertness, but the halls were strangely empty before them. Schade knew he was being watched from somewhere, and the otherwise oblivious titan just behind him being at the ready told him there were enemies here, regardless of whether or not any of them could see them.

Trish sighed, pulling her rifle a little closer to herself. “I think they've just about had enough of us,” she whispered over their comms. “Not so much as a legionary...”

“Oh, I feel 'em,” Meteor growled quietly as he stayed at the ready. A titan's natural affinity for battle was like a fully-functional enemy detection system. The only thing that could come close to rivaling the sixth sense would probably be Schade's pure paranoia after spending years in the wilds. The fact that the larger exo was so tense only confirmed their suspicions of the enemy being all around them.

As they rounded the last corner into an open barracks, the blast doors suddenly slammed shut behind them and they were locked in the empty room. “Well, that's not good,” Trish said as they all moved away from the corner on high alert.

Schade moved for a stack of crates right as several doors opened at once and legionaries came jogging in. Every third legionary was followed by a phalanx, and... Was that a centurion in the back? That was a centurion coming out to greet them. Ori buzzed into the comms. “Valus Ta'aurc is in here somewhere. This has got to be his personal guard...”

“It's sizeable,” Trish nodded as she ducked behind a loading ramp.

Meteor chuckled from behind his own cover. “Just means there's enough to share!” The enthusiastic titan jumped over his own cover into oncoming fire and charged right into the unit, sending a flying knee into a phalanx's shield and caving it in. Arc energy was flying everywhere as he went hands-on with the Cabal. He seemed to be having a blast in there.

The two hunters blinked at him. “...He's just as crazy as you are,” Trish said to Schade as she readied a solar grenade.

Schade couldn't help but grin a little. The titan had spirit, for sure. Even as the titan was inevitably beaten down, he knew he'd get right back up swinging once his ghost rezzed him. “Let's get in there,” he decided as he checked his loadout and dashed from one cover to another.

Trish had lit the room gold with her grenades and Meteor was already on his way back up with some shared Light from Schade. Arc energies flickered and snapped along solar trails as the three guardians began laying waste to the detachment advancing on them. Even as centurions and psions started entering, the three used their environment against the hulking troopers and pushed them back. The Cabal thought they had trapped the guardians, but had instead trapped themselves in the bunker with them.

Schade jumped behind a ramp to reload his shotgun. Something about today felt pretty damn good, and he just couldn't quite put his finger on it. “You're smiling,” Ori said in the back of his head. “Told you getting into a fireteam would do you some good.”

The exo rolled his eyes a bit. “Sure, that and coming to Mars after a long hiatus... A change of scenery does you good.” Much as he would try to argue that _ that _ was the reason, a fragile part of him figured Ori to be right. It had been years since he'd been in a fireteam. He'd almost forgotten how it worked. He glanced around his cover to see Meteor as the titan put a legionary into a flying neckbreaker, then immediately get back up. Every bit of the titan's body language said he was grinning like an idiot the whole time. Trish was pulling her weight as well, popping a few psions before they could use their energy to send anyone flying. The hesitance she showed when they started was all but gone as she lobbed another solar grenade at a centurion and detonated his shield in the middle of a group. They were all defending each other, and things were going smoothely.

Just as the Cabal units started deteriorating to nothing and the remaining troopers started moving for cover, the main blast doors in the back of the bunker shuddered and rumbled open. From the darkness strode possibly the largest Cabal the guardians had ever seen, clad in heavy ballistic armour that would most likely have been a better match for the Goliath tank they had engaged earlier. Valus Ta'aurc roared out a bone-rattling warcry and raised his massive fist, and the gates opened again for more troops to come pouring in.

“There he is!” Ori said over comms. “Be careful, he's outfitted a whole lot different than the rest of the Cabal we've faced.”

As if in response, the Valus stomped his enormous boot forward and the rig on his back erupted in a fountain of rockets, all swirling around and seeking the guardians.

Schade cursed to himself as he rolled to get away from the volley, catching a bit of damage before he was able to drag himself to more sturdy cover. Ori came out long enough to return his legs back to how they're supposed to be and Schade tried to peek around to find his fireteam. “That's definitely not good... Meteor, you got a bubble?”

The titan had just thrown a psion at a phalanx before ducking behind a support beam. “Nnnnnot yet, but I can get one for ye soon.”

“I think they've gotten a little wiser to us,” Trish said as she popped a few psion heads. “They're sending more nimble guys after us and putting more live walls in front of them... Or they're just running out of legionaries and centurions.”

“Control their numbers until Meteor's ready. I'll round 'em all up for you guys.” Schade holstered his shotgun under his cloak and pulled out his sidearm.

“Hope you know what you're doing,” Trish called as she leaned over and opened fire on any Cabal she saw.

Schade rolled out of cover as Meteor illuminated his side of the bunker with an arc grenade, drawing all kinds of attention from the Valus as Schade started a low sprint around the other end of the bunker. “Time to piss 'em off...”

A psion was moving out from its cover, trying to close in from an angle behind Trish. It suddenly was spun around and dropped to the floor with a wide gash across its neck and something dark moved through its spray of black liquid that erupted from its suit, and the phalanxes were immediately met with Schade zipping out from the chaos. They roared and attempted to strike at him with their shields, but they just couldn't seem to make contact before he abruptly changed direction and carved at their knees with his knife. One phalanx tried to smash him with his gun and the hunter only twirled out of the way, popping the massive Cabal in the helmet a few times with his sidearm. Every time they tried to hit him, he slipped out of the way like a frenzied viper. He was just too nimble for their huge feet. When a phalanx mistakenly blew a legionary's head across a support beam trying to hit the guardian, that's when they'd had enough. They roared indignantly and charged after him, forcing him out into the open.

Schade gave a chuckle, then whipped around to zip across the open room to the other end of the bunker. A gravelly roar made his ears itch and he looked over his shoulder to see Ta'aurc aiming his hip-mounted heavy machine gun at him. The steady stream of high-caliber bullets that erupted from that thing were downright unpleasant. Schade had taken three rounds from it by the time he clumsily rolled behind another stack of crates. Ori had to come out and heal him before the shock killed him. Schade caught his breath for half a second, then grinned at the approaching clump of Cabal. “All yours, titan!”

Meteor gunned down a legionary in time to see the group of enemies right in the middle of the room below him. “Oh boy!” Without further ado, he took a flying leap from the upper deck and crashed into the group, killing at least six of them on impact and driving the rest to heart failure with the shockwave that followed. The Valus roared and opened fire on the titan with a volley of rockets, but all detonated on the surface of the bubble the exo had put up just in time. “Come 'n get it!”

Trish hopped over her cover and sprinted for the bubble, as did Schade, and the hunters felt themselves imbued with light. “Looks like the jig is up, big guy!” Trish laughed as she spring lightly off of Meteor's shoulders and into the air. She reached for the light and pulled a golden gun out of nothing. With a wild grin, she unloaded all three shots into the Valus's chest, spinning him around as solar flames danced along his body, eating away at his armour... Then he suddenly spun to face them. “What the-?!”

Ta'aurc turned his gun to Trish and shredded her before she could hit the ground, then turned to the remaining two guardians in the bubble. He launched a fountain of rockets at the bubble again, and Meteor found himself sliding on the floor trying to keep the barrier up.

Schade looked up at the underside of a boot the size of a small vehicle and started reloading his shotgun. The boot came down and he saw Meteor visibly flinch as the bubble rippled from the weight of the impact. He could see the side doors opening yet again on the Valus's order, letting in more troops to replace the ones they'd killed. “Change of plans,” Schade called to his fireteam as he glimpsed Trish's ghost reviving her in the corner of his peripheral. “Disable fuckface's gun before he takes control of the situation...”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Meteor strained as the Valus stomped the bubble a second time.

Schade tossed a grenade out of the bubble toward some of the advancing Cabal, then both guardians broke away as Ta'aurc brought his massive boot crashing down on their barrier one last time, shattering it. Now empowered by the remaining light from Meteor's bubble, the guardians opened fire on Ta'aurc's arms, doing what they could to power through his armour and render the machine gun impossible to wield. The massive Valus flinched once, giving them just enough time to reload before having to dodge a new volley of rockets... Just how many did he have in that rig?

A solar grenade lobbed into the frey told them Trish was back on her feet again, but a violet flare from the side signaled the presence of a small group of psions was also present. Meteor pulled twice on his hand cannon before it ran out of ammo and he resorted to his hands again, letting arc energy drive his punches all the harder into his opponents. Schade took enough fire to need a hasty retreat behind the crates again, but he knew the Valus had seen him. He didn't have enough time to find more stable cover before the furious Cabal took it out on him.

Valus Ta'aurc roared and a flare of rockets spread across the bunker... Schade was grateful Ori backtracked his memory a bit before fully rezzing him. The moment he had control again, he wasted no time in rolling away from the charred crates. He quickly turned to assess the state of his fireteam and found the situation to be... Suboptimal. Meteor had gone down and his ghost was struggling to revive him without getting shot by psions, and Trish was hardly visible behind her ramp again, bleeding out but getting assistance from her ghost. There were psions and legionaries everywhere.

_ We're definitely in over our heads... _

The words came to him with a clarity he didn't want. His grip tightened involuntarily on his shotgun as he clung to the shadow of his corner. Meteor was up, but the Cabal were closing in on him quickly. Ori seemed to tense up in the back of his mind.

_ This is all wrong... _

For a moment, he thought he heard a shriek in the midst of the Cabal-infested chaos. The Valus roared and opened fire on the guardians, striking down Trish as she tried to move for a grenade throw. Meteor had only barely gotten out of the way, catching a few rounds in his leg and side before rolling behind a support beam as the psions tried to flank him.

_ This is a disaster... _

Ori knew what was going on. The ghost tried his best to pull Schade back to his senses, but he couldn't hear him. Inside and out, everything had gotten too loud. Meteor suddenly had psions all over him with a legionary closing in.

Something had just grabbed the titan's ghost...

Trish awoke with a start, barely managing to pull behind cover just as Valus Ta'aurc opened another volley of rockets that careened down the field. She was to the point of looking for an escape, but she saw no avenue of movement in the bunker beyond the door past the Valus. “Alright, guys,” she panted over comms. “Time to come to a decision here!” She didn't get a response from either of them. “Meteor? Hunter?” She could vaguely hear the familiar voice of their fireteam leader's ghost off the comms, but she had no idea what he was saying. She glanced over to one side of her cover to see Meteor pull out his ghost to heal, but a couple psions accompanied by a legionary were rounding the corner. The moment Meteor went to start cracking skulls, she could see the legionary trying to go for his ghost and tried to get to him. “Meteor, watch it!”

Suddenly, the bunker lit up with a blinding flash of arc energy that was loud enough to make their ears itch. The nearby Cabal reeled and Trish turned to where it had originated, feeling rather than seeing something cloaked dash past her in the space of a heartbeat. A second, less intense flash came from behind her and she whirled again to see Schade in the full tilt of his blade dancer specialty, Cabal bodies falling away from Meteor and his ghost, disintegrating as electricity fried them to ash. He was hardly in that spot for a moment before he dashed to the nearest enemy, suffering them the same fate. She had seen this once before in the Crucible... And it frightened her.

Meteor cursed in surprise and reeled out of the way with his ghost, now fully healed but disoriented by the bright flashing of the hellish sprite that Schade suddenly became. He turned in time to see Schade zig-zagging erratically across the bunker. He got a good look at him this time. Electricity crawled up his arms from his blades, veining excitedly over his shoulders and down his sides until it followed him through the air like wild tendrils. His eyes, barely visible behind the visor of his helmet, were gleaming an eerie white from it.

The Valus, surprised by the sudden turn in the tide, went to try and stomp Schade once he got close enough, but missed terribly and just ended up stomping a dent in the metal grating. Realizing his mistake quite quickly, he looked up to see a moment in time where the furious hunter was directly in front of him, already coming right for him. The arc blade hit him so hard at first, he thought he'd been knocked unconscious by it. The second strike erupted across his entire left side and he thought he felt the tendons in his neck pop. The massive Cabal tried to regain control of his body as his legs seemed to give out, then he vaguely realized something on his side had ruptured and he was leaking black fluid everywhere. Before he could see it coming, he felt an intense pain erupt down his spine and chest and his vision went white...

Trish was ducking behind cover again, just as she had done to avoid Cabal fire. This time, it was to avoid Schade. She didn't dare try to throw a grenade. There was no telling how many places the enraged hunter would be in over the course of the two seconds it took to detonate. Silence suddenly took the bunker, and the flashes died down. No more Cabal were coming in. She risked a peek after some hesitation.

Schade stood at the feet of the dead Valus, out of breath and tightly gripping his disappearing arc blades as the electrical currents slowly dissolved away. He looked incredibly rigid where he stood. It was clear he'd had enough of being pinned down by the Cabal and chose the most violent end to the enemy he could manage. He had a thousand-yard stare at the empty space in front of him, not even noticing that his super had faded out.

“Y'okay, friend?” Meteor was keen to call him at a distance before approaching.

Schade visibly jumped, as if not expecting to hear a voice anywhere near him. He flexed his hands, suddenly realizing his fingers were going numb from the grip he had. “...Yeah,” he lied.

“'Kay, just checkin'.” The titan moved about the bunker with little in the way, casually walking his way to the fried Valus as Schade vacated the platform. “That was... Impressive.”

Trish was working her way up to the platform with the same ease, minding their fireteam leader as he stepped off to the side. She looked at Ta'aurc and kicked his boot. It barely moved. “Popped like a corn kernel,” she mumbled as she eyed the partially-extruded brain matter from the back of the Valus's helmet. “...Tigger, send a message to the Vanguard. Let 'em know we got their bad guy.” She was talking to her ghost, who chittered a polite “yes ma'am” in return.

Schade was quiet as he reeled in his own thoughts. Ori wordlessly calmed him, sending signals through his head like gentle nudges. _ “Get your head out of the hole,” _ Ori warned him privately. _ “We're still in a hotzone.” _ His idle gaze drew upwards to find Meteor watching him in equal silence. He could tell. The titan knew Schade had lost control there. What's worse is _ he _ knew he knew. The titan was more intuitive than he let on. It pissed him off just enough to get him moving. He straightened a bit and looked around until he saw one of the Cabal computers, just now noticing the screen had a Vex gate pulled up on it. That got his attention. Bringing Ori out, he let the ghost download all of their data for his research.

“Message received,” came the voice of Trish's ghost over comms. “The Vanguard is grateful for the kill and is willing to reward us for our trouble. But...” The polite, youthful voice trailed off briefly. “The Tower staff is currently unavailable... We're getting reports that someone has come back from the Hellmouth after years of being missing in it.”

Schade mentally stuttered. _ It couldn't be... _ He turned to face them, looking surprised even with the helmet completely obscuring his face.

Meteor looked confused, but surprised nonetheless. “W'll _ that's _ interestin'! Must be one tough guardian.”

Trish balked. “I don't think you quite understand here, buddy. _ No one _ has come back from the Hellmouth. This is huge.”

“Guess we're goin' to the Tower then, huh?” Meteor turned to look at Schade, but the hunter was already transmatting, leaving just a glimmer of pale light for the others to see before there was nothing but empty space.

“I don't like playing games of odds when it's all speculation,” Schade said as he powerwalked away from his ship, leaving the hangar frames to care for it in his absence. “We didn't go that far in. If it was him, he'd have gotten out a long time ago... Right?”

Ori was floating right along with him, buzzing with thought. “Schade, we can't make any assumptions. You're right, we didn't go that far in, but _anything_ could have happened down there. We only scratched the surface. If Civil had maybe gone deeper in, he could have found somewhere to hide and survive this whole time.”

Schade felt queasy. “If he spent this whole time down there, alive... Alone...”

Ori floated in front of him to stop him for a moment, chittering somewhat firmly before his guardian could go down the stairs toward the Vanguard. “Schade, calm down. We don't know if it's him or not. We have no idea who it is or what shape they'll be in. Just... Be ready for anything.”

Schade checked himself. He was making assumptions. He never made assumptions. Taking a breath to steady himself, he returned his gaze to his ghost. “_Someone_ has come back from the Hellmouth... Which means it's possible.”

“Exactly.”

He steeled himself over the idea of returning to Luna... The thought alone made his spine tense up. _One thing at a time,_ he scolded himself. Another breath, and he strode down the stairs toward the Vanguard. He moved right past Lord Shaxx and saw a figure standing among the familiar three, shrouded and dark. Very dark. Ikora was speaking to them directly.

Cayde turned to see the other exo enter the room, not missing a bit of the hunter's intensity. “C'mon in, kid,” he beckoned with a nod of his head. “We're just finishing up here.” The addressal drew the attention of the others, and the fourth person was revealed in full.

It was a woman, human... Or perhaps was once human. She stood in a strange way, slightly hunched and with her body kept close together as though still protecting herself from forces unseen. She held something that glowed green with soulfire. It illuminated her foreign armour up to her face, where the real differences lie. She turned to face Schade with three brilliantly glowing green eyes hidden behind a makeshift blindfold, all exuding blackened tears that perpetually streamed down her face... She reeked of Hive. Schade was at first crushingly disappointed that it wasn't who he thought it was, but then all at once immensely relieved after seeing the state of her.

“Schade,” Ikora turned to face him fully. She looked rather tired and worn, like she had aged over the course of the day. “This is Eris Morn... I'm sure you've heard she is the one who has come back from the Hellmouth.”

The hunter forced himself not to show anything telling. His helmet was off here, after all. He managed a nod while his jaw clenched tight.

Cayde, who was normally already cracking jokes by this point, held himself startlingly serious. “Eris, this is the guardian of mine I was telling you about. Seems we didn't have to go looking for him after all.”

“Hunter,” Zavala began curtly, sharp eyes resting on Schade as well. “What Eris brings to our table is of utmost importance. A threat is brewing on the moon the likes of which we have never seen. You have shown the Vanguard you are as dependable as you are resourceful... See to Eris, and make sure she is assisted with everything she needs.”

Schade only nodded in retention of his tense silence. “You can count on us,” said Ori in his stead.

Ikora turned to the fell individual. “Eris, do you need some time first...?”

The woman shook her head. “No. There is no time... Guardian, I need your help,” she said as she approached Schade, who only seemed to grow more tense to her proximity. “Crota will return to destroy this world if we do not stop him... Go to the Cosmodrome. Kill Sardon, the Fist of Crota, before the Hive wake Crota's soul.”

Schade stared for only a moment before offering another stiff nod, then taking his leave of the room and leaving the stranger to the Vanguard.

Ori chittered at him quietly. “Crota? I've heard that name. I think I've read that name before somewhere...”

“Hellmouth.”

Ori only blinked at Schade's single-word response.

“You didn't read it, you heard it. In the Hellmouth. In the _whispers..._” He hadn't stopped walking. His thoughts were a mile away. He was almost mumbling. “I know exactly what the fuck she's talking about, and we're not going back down there.”

The ghost buzzed, picking up on Schade's warning signs by the tone of his voice. “We don't have to, Schade. She's sending us to the Cosmodrome.”

“It'll all lead to the same end...”

“It doesn't always,” Ori tried patiently. “But if it does, I'll be right here with you. Whatever horrors you face, I'm always going to be with you-”

“I'm _not going back down there,_ Ori-!”

“Hunter!”

The stern voice jerked them both out of their argument, Schade nearly jumping out of his skin as Lord Shaxx shouted not six feet away from him just to the side of his desk. “...Y-yeah...?”

The giant striker was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, head still angled downward even from the distance. “...You look like you need to take a ride through the Crucible.”

Schade took a breath, either to steady himself from his tension or what sounded like an advertisement from the Crucible handler. “Look, maybe later...”

“No,” the titan began with a serious weight to his calm. “You look like you _need_ it... I know you, hunter. Your mind is in a different orbit.” He dipped his head a bit and his shoulders reflexively squared in what could only be described as a physical threat. “You're fighting with your _ghost...”_

Schade wilted a bit as that sunk in. Ori, possibly the only one who had ever been there for him, was catching this much heat from him. His own precious ghost at the mercy of his own poorly-formed temper. He looked down, away, anywhere but at either of them as he hooked his thumbs over his pockets and his eyes darkened. He was ashamed. The one thing he said he'd never do, he was doing it. He didn't know how Ori was putting up with his shit.

“...Gear up,” Shaxx said as he returned to his desk briefly as he made preparations. “I'm sending you to the Rusted Lands.”

Schade finally looked up at him. “...Yessir,” he nodded, eyes sharper now. He moved to walk off up the hallway.

“And Schade...”

He turned to face the Crucible handler one more time, finding the giant looking back at him hard from his desk.

“He who fights monsters should see to it that he, himself does not become a monster.”

Schade stared at him for a moment, then nodded with a well-meaning smile. At least he was smiling a bit. Then, with his thumbs still hooked over his pockets, he set his way through the hallway and up the stairs out into the courtyard.

Ori hovered over his shoulder again. “I'm... Sorry if I was pushing,” he chirped nervously. “I just thought, maybe facing the Hive would...” He trailed off as Schade reached up with one gentle hand, pulled him close to his hood against his cheek and held him there as he walked. He didn't say a thing. Neither of them did. Nothing _had_ to be said. They spoke in a language all their own, and it was volumes louder than anything spoken... They were in this together, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Meteor-5's manner of speaking comes from my dearest friend, who owns the titan character on PS4. It's kind of Cajun-y with a bit of old Scottish (?) mixed in... He's determined he does not have this awesome, weird accent and everyone is just strange. He has been with me through some of the toughest years of my life, has seen my secrets and knows me better than perhaps even my own blood family (shit, this makes twenty years now, you mad lad). With the bond that we have, it's only appropriate that his guardian is there for mine. Here's to you, brother.
> 
> \- Schade is exceptionally agile because he dances in his free time... And by dancing, I don't mean the typical pop culture emotes. He does ballroom dancing. And ballet. And is really goddamn good at it.
> 
> \- Despite their near-perfect synchronicity, Ori struggles sometimes to keep Schade mentally in check only for the fact that neither of them ever actually sought help for the issues they face together. The poor ghost has had to learn and improvise over the years without any outside input, just figuring out what works and what doesn't.
> 
> \- Lord Shaxx demands you be respectable, Schade. You little shit.


	4. Thoughts of Red Flowers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confronting your own demons is a struggle... It's horrifying when they confront you back. Schade gets a rough start on his search for the Black Garden, but the data confirms his theories. After returning to Mars, Schade encounters Meteor-5 again and his limits are tested...

**Thoughts of Red Flowers**

Schade spent the majority of his time after his Crucible matches studying in the silence of his cockpit. The fighting had done him good, in the end. He'd loosened up enough to clear his head and get back to his ship, where he could research his new Vex data in peace. He had studied what he could of the data, but had set the rest of it to decompile while everything translated from the Cabal language to something he could understand. He would do extra research on the chunks that came of it later. The process seemed to take forever. He had no idea when he had started staring at the top of his cockpit, but that had definitely become his world now.

Honestly, he was tired. His chronometer for the Tower showed to be somewhere around three in the morning, and he definitely felt it. Part of him just wanted to give up on the data for tonight and study it tomorrow when his mind was a little more rested. His thoughts were consumed with everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. It was difficult to discern objective answers from the data when all he could think about was the survivor of the Hellmouth. Any potential other survivors...

There was a sound on his ship. Something stirred in the back. His senses went on high alert. There should be _ nothing _ else on this ship but him and Ori.

The moment he'd gotten up from his chair, he angled his gaze to the door just behind him. His ship was small, make no mistake. The Slipper Misfit was definitely not one of those ships meant to have more than one person for any length of time, but there was a compartment in the back that held the majority of Schade's things that he couldn't put into a vault. It was definitely large enough for a stow-away, and all of his instincts were practically screaming at it. He drew his sidearm and approached the door, then tapped the panel that opened the door... He could only stare at what was behind it, unsure of himself even.

“Schade...”

_ “...Civil?" _Were he any other organic being, he would be considerably paler. He stared warily at his titan brother and lowered his weapon. His armour was the same as it had been on that terrible day, but worn to terrible wear. Old gashes haunted the surface of his gear where the thrall had beset him. His helmet was cracked beyond repair, yet the open gash where he would have thought to see an eye was pitch black on the inside. Perhaps the one thing that kept him from rushing to his long lost brother was the fact that he didn't _ feel _ like him. The titan before him held an air of tension so palpable to him, it felt as though he stood before a predator. “What in Traveler's name...?”

Civil's head dipped a bit. His shoulders were slack as though he was tired or disappointed by something. “You... Seem guarded,” the titan surmised. “Do I... Make you nervous?”

Schade didn't know what to think. “I-I... Y-you were... I saw...”

“Do I... _ Frighten _ you...?” The broken titan's helmet turned up a bit, meeting the hunter's gaze with an unseen glare of his own. “...As the _ Hive _ do...?”

Schade's heart hitched at the tone in his brother's voice. He wasn't just here, alive, he was _ furious _ with him. Disgusted.

“...Why did you bring us down there?” Civil rumbled from the doorway, standing eerily still. “Did you actually expect us to succeed with just the three of us where _ hundreds _ had failed?”

“Civil...”

“When the Hive started swarming, you _ ran _ ... You _ abandoned _ us,” he growled, fists tightening until something crunched. Schade had only just noticed the bits of shattered ghost that remained in his hand. “You never had any intention of coming back, did you...?”

Schade's throat had locked up. He wanted to say he tried, that he wanted to dive back in after him even if it meant going alone, but part of him knew that was a lie. He couldn't bring himself to scale that pit again after he had returned to the Tower.

“You... _ Left me _ down there.” The titan's hatred was evident. From his fists sparked a familiar energy, but instead of arc light jumping up his arms, it was an unhealthy green fire that crept through the seams of his armour. “I was alone... Abandoned, left to survive that chaos... And where were you?” The titan tilted his helmet and the soft flames peeked out from around his neck, glinting on the broken edges of his visor. _ “Cowering _ in the Tower... Feeling sorry for _ yourself...” _

“Brother...”

“I am _ not _ your brother,” Civil snarled with a single step forward. “And _ you _ don't get to apologize for this... You don't even know what it means to be sorry. Not for this. Not yet.”

Schade stood in silence, rigid and in shock. What was even happening?

Civil took another step forward as the sickly fire licked upwards across his body, dancing eerily from anywhere the armour was damaged, which was pretty much everywhere. “Do you have any idea what I went through down there...? Do you even _ remotely understand _ what the Hive are capable of?”

He looked down. He almost felt sick. There was a roaring in his ears he couldn't explain.

Another heavy step closer. “The Light doesn't reach that far down for a reason,” Civil warned with increasing vehemence. The green plasma traced along his helmet now, flickering in the cracks. “It's not _ allowed _ in the depths of the Hellmouth... _ Nothing _ escapes the Darkness there...”

His skull was burning...

“You are right to be afraid...” There was something wrong about his voice now. Something that had become more hostile with each step he took. _ “I will see you suffer...” _

Schade looked up to see his brother once more, but what stood before him was anything but. The green fire had changed him grimly, glowing claws emanating from his gloved hands and his helmet cracked into a horrifying maw of jagged teeth. The figure lunged at him and in the space of a heartbeat, Schade called out to his arc blades and lit up his cockpit. If this is what was happening, he was going to take his whole ship down with it.

“Schade, _ STOP IT!” _

The call from Ori's voice was so urgent, so terrified, that it jerked him right out of the dream. His focus snapped forward to see Ori just in front of him. Everything was lit up with arc light. He was on his feet and had just activated his super... He was just about to hit Ori.

“Wake up! You're about to detonate the control board!”

In a daze, he turned to look over his shoulder at the malfunctioning controls on his ship. Arc light was already trying to jump from his blades to the ship, but he hadn't hit anything yet. With a pop of static, he deactivated his arc blades and the wild electrical currents disappeared. He felt dizzy. He put an unsteady hand on whatever was nearby and clumsily lowered himself to the floor before he fell down, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Light's sake... Are you okay?” Ori seemed a little shaken. “You've never woken up that violent before...”

“I almost hit you,” came a shakey whisper.

“No, you hadn't moved, don't even think about that.” Ori shed his light on Schade, looking for any kind of stress his body endured from popping his super without any of his armour on. “I didn't know you could do that in your sleep... Calm down. You're going to hyperventilate again if you're not careful.”

He hadn't even noticed. That was probably why his extremities buzzed and he was so lightheaded. “It was different,” was all he could manage.

Ori finished repairing on him what little there was to fix, then stared at him quietly. “It wasn't the Hellmouth?”

Schade shook his head as his breathing started to return to normal. “No, it... It was Civil. H-he was here. And he was... Furious...”

Ori floated closer, just right up in front of Schade's face. “You can't let that grip you,” he said calmly as Schade reached up for him to hold him. “You know Civil would never, _ never _ get so angry with you... I don't think he ever _ could _ get that angry with anyone, especially you.”

Schade just held Ori against his forehead with both shaking hands. All things considered, he was recovering fairly quickly from this one.

Ori knew it had to have been bad. He had seen his hunter wake up distraught for hours after a particularly bad night terror, but never violent. Sure, he had swung on Kace before, but it was never to the degree he had just taken it. “...And you weren't about to hit me, so stop thinking about it,” he said decisively.

Schade let out some kind of sound that was either a laugh or a dry sob. Even he wasn't sure, but it was just a single noise. He couldn't get over his precious ghost and just how much he put up with to make sure he was alright. He focused on just him, forcing any other thoughts out of his head. Just him and Ori. Everything else would fall into place around them.

“Your data is done compiling, by the way.” Ori's tone was soft and quiet as he pulled away from the subject. Just what was needed to calm the humming in his ears.

He slowly unclasped his ghost and rested his hands on his knees. He gave Ori the option to float up, but he had stayed resting in his hunter's palms for the time being. “...Anything good?” He looked tired.

Ori blinked a little brighter. “There's a lot of data on a Vex gate on Mars... I think it's referring to the huge one on the edge of the Valley of the Kings. You could probably call the Awoken's bluff on the Black Garden with this, judging by what the Cabal had found.”

Schade freed one hand long enough to rub his face a bit in thought. Just thinking about things like this grounded him a bit more. He stared into open space a bit before speaking. “If the Cabal have figured it out, we're in some serious trouble.”

“That's where we've lucked out, I think,” Ori explained. “They had only excavated around it and tried to take it when the Vex came out to defend it. There are also numerous accounts of strange happenings around the area that you're going to want to look at.” He had taken to gently floating upwards as he spoke and Schade rose to his feet. “Though I... Understand if you don't want to right now.”

“No, no, I... I got this.” Schade steadied himself with a breath and looked to the door, reminding himself that he actually never closed it. He could see all the way into the back of it. No one was there, as it would always be. Prying his gaze from the shadowy collection of stuff, he moved to one of his screens and stood just over it, peering at the data before him. He had gotten as far as setting his hands on the sides of the panel before his focus faltered, if he ever had it to begin with. He'd found himself staring blankly at the screen for several moments, not absorbing any of the information before him.

Ori watched him stare into oblivion. He could tell his guardian was still locked into himself, despite their best efforts. He glanced over at the control panel to the ship as it flickered unevenly, still misbehaving from arc exposure and lack of attention afterwards. Several thoughts ran through his mind as he looked back to Schade. A soft buzz. “You sure you're okay?”

Schade blinked back to reality again, then sighed and rubbed his face a bit. “...Yeah, just needed a second.” He squared his shoulders a bit and focused on the screens with some effort. _Get it together, hunter,_ he thought to himself. He felt a soft pressure on his shoulder and looked over to find Ori perching on him, giving him a ghost's best reassuring smile before looking to the screen from there. _That's better._ He returned the smile like it was a breath of fresh air, then turned his attention to the data at last.

There were patterns here that he recognized, even if the Cabal couldn't. Scrolling through the lines of text, he could see where the incidents they experienced were right in line with many instances of time travel shenanigans he'd encountered with the Vex, himself. Scrolling through line by line, he only found more of what his own studies had confirmed. His theory on creating a pocket of time for habitation seemed to fall into place. “...But on Mars...?” His mumble wasn't missed by his ghost.

“You've got that look,” Ori said from Schade's shoulder. “You look like you've cornered something small and defenseless... What did you find?”

Schade looked for only a moment, then shut down the screen and started moving about his cabin for his armour, leaving Ori to float along beside him. “Go ahead and pull the Vex head from the vault and get it transmatted onto the ship,” he instructed as he pulled on his underarmour shirt, then turned to his ghost. “We're going to pick on some Awoken.”

The Awoken Queen's throne room was as it had been the last time he'd seen it. Isolated, held out over an abyss of twilight, bathed in the subtle purple light from the Reef. Striding into such an open place typically didn't work well with him, but something about the somewhat ramshackle place with its hanging nets and loose cables seemed oddly comfortable. Just there, sitting in the refurbished Kell's chair, was the gracefully powerful Queen Mara Sov. The Fallen flanking her didn't startle him this time, which was a start. Speaking to her was her little brother Uldren Sov, a fair man at least, but the Prince's arrogance got on Schade's nerves nonetheless. Schade heard them mumbling something to each other on his approach, but the surprise on their faces spoke enough for him. Uldren was the first to offer a condescending smile at him.

“And here I thought you'd run away on us, guardian,” Uldren puffed. “I wouldn't have blamed you... Even if it meant throwing your title to the wind, that is.”

“Good to see you too, gorgeous,” Schade smiled with a wink, visible now as he held his helmet under one arm. Hardly giving the Prince his time, he turned a much more courteous smile to the Awoken Queen. “My Lady,” he said with a dip of his head. “I ask your forgiveness for being so late in my return. The life of a guardian is... Inconsistent, to say the least.”

Queen Mara turned to her now irritated brother, hardly addressing the hunter before her. “And has it fetched for us what it seeks? I see no Gate Lord...”

Ori responded before Uldren could, chittering a bit. “Oh, let me get that for you.”

Schade gave one of those “please do” gestures for Ori to continue, and the ghost transmatted the massive Vex head directly onto the throne's stairs, landing with a loud, heavy clatter as it was practically thrown at their feet. The Fallen guards jumped and the two Awoken stared, Uldren even taking a step forward to verify the sparking, still-alive mass of Vex tech was real. Schade took half a step forward. “Ah, sorry 'bout the radiolaria there... It's been in stasis for months, so it's still pretty, uh... Healthy. For a severed head.” He shook his head. “Amazing what the Vex can live through. But now... How about this key to the Black Garden, then?”

Uldren smirked at him. “Clever little hunter... Though I doubt you even know where it is.”

“What, the massive gate in the Valley of the Kings in Meridian Bay? I mean, I have my own long, drawn-out ways of getting there, but I'll be honest... The Queen's method for entry just seems _so much more efficient_ than any way I've yet devised.” He offered a humble gesture to himself as he looked to Queen Mara, dipping his head again with a hand to his chest.

Uldren bristled. “You arrogant...”

“We let them in,” said the Queen. “Search the Gate Lord for that which gains them entrance.”

The Prince whirled to face his sister and his jaw ticked. “Why?! If you wish them certain death, just kill them here!” He seemed all too ready to perform such a task for her.

“Often when we guess at others' motives, we reveal only our own...”

“My motive is is simply loyalty... To a people,” the Prince said rather dramatically as he took to a knee at her side. “To a Queen... And a sister.”

“Then please,” Queen Mara began again, only impatience just beginning to show in the tone of her otherwise incredibly calm voice. Her next words were punctuated with it as she stared him down. “Take what is required.”

Schade watched as Uldren seemed to fight with himself for a moment, then the Awoken rose to his feet and approached the head. He found such gratification as the Prince drew his knife and knelt before the thing, digging away at it after a purely hateful glance at him. Every bit of his body language reminded him of a small child who was learning how to dress a hunted animal and simply didn't want to do it... It made him grin. Perhaps the grin was noticed, however, as Uldren smirked at him and yanked his knife a little too hard, snapping wires and removing the glowing eye to see its red light fade away.

“Dead... What an unfortunate waste of time for you,” he said to Schade, making sure to turn the now darkened eye towards his sister.

Schade smirked a little, eyes narrowing to respond but he was cut off by the Queen's response.

“I do not doubt the resourcefulness of this one and its ball,” she said as she watched Schade's every move. “...We gift it,” she decided. “In sympathy for their Traveler.”

Uldren silently sputtered as the Queen wordlessly dressed him down with her sharp gaze. He steeled himself, a furious resignation in his golden eyes, then turned to Schade. He said nothing, throwing the heavy baseball-sized eye to the guardian with a sneer. The hatred in that gaze was clear... And reciprocated in a grin from the obsidian exo.

The Queen rose to her feet to address Schade, and he didn't miss the significance of that. “I have shown you benevolence, guardian.” She was cold in her addressing, and every bit a powerful woman who always got what she wanted. “Should the Awoken ever need an ally, I will call on you... And expect you to answer.”

Uldren sheathed his knife and glared at him, hissing through gritted teeth. “She's saying you owe us, guardian...”

“I gathered that,” Schade said with a smirk in his direction, then turned back to the Queen and raised his chin briefly before turning into a courtly bow, folding an arm in front and an arm behind as his cloudwalker tribute cloak drifted to one side. _“Your grace,”_ he bade respectfully, then turned to leave. He vaguely heard the Prince falsely wish him good luck, to which he responded with a subtle one-fingered scratching of the back of his neck...

Back on the ship, Ori had just finished scanning the Gate Lord's detached eye. “So, Mars is right,” he beeped to Schade as they flew out of the Reef. “It really is the gate near the lost city of Freehold... The Cabal have redoubled their efforts, though. You're going to have a tough time getting in.”

“More like a fun time,” Schade mumbled as he warped his way to Mars. No breaks.

Ori scowled a little at him, but only briefly. “...I'm picking up a lot of guardian activity in the area, so who knows. You might get lucky and find a friend to go with you.”

Schade raised a brow at him for the idea, but he knew what he was getting at. It was that same same attitude that caused the Hellmouth incident, and even the bounty on Valus Ta'aurc proved a very difficult venture. “...I guess.”

Ori actually smiled at the answer. Had he mentioned a fireteam any earlier, he likely would have gotten an argument out of it. The simple, two-syllable response was more positive than he'd ever heard before, even if it was outwardly completely neutral. Progress! The ghost buzzed as he noticed where their ship was headed, now entering Mars's atmosphere. “I think I'll set us down just east of the Scablands... We have to charge that eye before we can get anywhere, and I've detected a Vex spire the Cabal have been studying that might be of use to us in that regard.”

Schade was silent for a while as they flew over Freehold, briefly drawing artillery threats before leaving their effective range. “Been researching something interesting, by the way,” he started as they began descending toward a landing zone. “Did you know Vex tech is potentially compatible with exo tech...?”

Ori looked at him hard as the hunter rose from his seat to put his helmet on and prepare for transmat. “That sounds... Dangerous. Reckless, even. Don't go pushing that.”

Schade laughed as he shouldered his auto rifle and Ori guided the ship into place behind a rockface. “I'll try not to.”

Ori transmatted them to the ground and sent the ship back to low orbit. “There's going to be a lot of resistance. It looks like the Vex are pushing against the Cabal near our landing zone, so there's going to be activity everywhere.”

“Sounds good to me,” Schade said rather quietly as his sparrow was summoned for him and he took off across the cold, sandy trench.

The traversal across the area was indeed more intense than usual. Vex were everywhere they usually weren't, and the Cabal only rose to meet them on every front. For the time being, Schade kept himself to the shadows and tight corners along the way, disappearing into the territory like his namesake suggests. Meridian Bay was in chaos, and he intended to skirt around it until absolutely necessary. Arriving at the Scablands, where there was significantly less cover, would change his tactics. He narrowly dodged sniper fire from Vex hobgoblins and ended up having to tiptoe around Cabal centurions in the process. With some well-placed rifle shots and a few heals, he managed to slip past the main gate directly into the Cabal firebase.

He ran his sparrow up a narrow passageway, relieved it was oddly quiet for the moment. “Thought you said there was a lot of guardian activity around here?” He said to Ori as he slowed near a rockface, taking a moment to themselves before going back out into the open.

“Well, there _was,_ but I think they've all moved on from here... Likely not as crazy as you are, going right through a contested zone.”

“Right,” he laughed and dismounted his sparrow. Walking silently up the way, he could see a watchtower just around the corner, and it was littered with Cabal units. Legionaries, phalanxes, psions, and there was definitely at least one centurion hiding up there. “Fantastic,” he breathed as he ducked his head back around the corner. Sure, he had faced Vex in these numbers and more, but the Vex were easy to predict. They weren't very tactical, likely as a result of their near-infinite numbers. They had no fear of death, and their forward-only movements meant they were easier to mow down. It wasn't the same for the Cabal, who rather valued their lives and utilized cover a bit too much for his liking. He could fight Vex all day, but Cabal were a different story. Given a choice between fighting this current group and a group of Vex in double the numbers, he'd have chosen the latter.

He leaned against the rockface as he unholstered his shotgun, briefly checking the capacity before rolling out around the corner. He kept low and quiet, trotting past at a near-crouch until he'd found a stack of ammo crates to dip behind. They hadn't noticed him yet, but this wasn't one of those moments where he could be a shadow forever.

Ori buzzed quietly in the back of his mind. “I'm detecting a terminal in that tower... If you get me up there, I can get us an exact route to the spire we need to awaken the eye.”

Schade peered up at the tower, then down at the centurion at its door. His eyes traced down to the closer troops nearby, especially the three psions that patrolled just near him. The Martian evening was settling in and the bronze sands were now turning a subtle thistle, darkening into violet in the corners... This was going to be fun.

A psion paced around one of the generators, peeking around it while it said something across its comms to the others nearby. It seemed to be casually mocking its cohorts as it checked the area, finding nothing but sand as it resumed its short-range patrol. As it turned again, something caught its eye and it turned just in time to see a knife edge glinting from the shadows and dashing up to its throat. It didn't even have time to call out to the teammates it was just teasing.

Schade dashed to the next nearby psion as it shouted, pulling a shotgun blast to its head before the other units started swarming towards him. He dodged a slug from a legionary's weapon and sprinted behind another generator to change weapons. His rifle was better suited to take out the larger Cabal that now started trying to outflank him.

He tossed a grenade at two phalanxes, then jogged out in the opposite direction to unload on some legionary helmets. He dipped in and out of cover as he picked off what he could, occasionally baiting a phalanx into trying to melee him so he could dance around the shield and drive a knife into the brute's throat. This tactic seemed to work just fine for a while.

Just as Schade figured he was getting into a groove, the centurions, now two of them, began to bear down on him from their ramp. They definitely had a very different definition of a “hand cannon.” Small mortars launched at him and he struggled to keep out of the multiple blast radii happening all around him. Ori fixed his legs a few times, just in time to get his mobility back for the incoming wave of backup. Legionaries, and a couple psions in the mix, but definitely more guns.

He sighed and bumped the back of his head against the wall he'd found. “Guardians are apparently annoyingly dangerous, since they keep sending annoyingly large groups after just one...”

“You expected anything else?” Ori chittered, but cut himself off with an alarmed buzz. “Colossus, move!”

Schade rolled out of the way without question, narrowly dodging the opening fire of the Cabal's largest unit's heavy machine gun. He managed to find new cover without getting hit by anything, which impressed himself. A particularly unlucky psion tried to intercept him around the box and ended up with a knife in the side of his head. “Well, that's just fantastic,” Schade said as he kicked the body away from him. “I had a plan up until that thing showed up...”

“How are you going to get me up to the terminal?”

He carefully peeked around the generator he'd adopted and saw the two centurions coming down the ramp from the colossus, at least three legionaries and a phalanx in tow. “If I can detonate the centurions' shields, it should be enough to put the legionaries on the ground. I can take care of the phalanx in close quarters.” He pulled back behind cover and moved to the other side, trying to get a look at the largest threat before the others closed in on him. “If I'm lucky, I can get the colossus to fire on his own men. If not, I can try my luck at detonating the terminal behind him with a grenade and we can just find another one somewhere.”

Ori buzzed in thought. “I could always just distract him while you shoot.”

“You always come up with ideas that bad?”

“Only when yours are worse.”

“Funny, but _I_ can't resurrect _you_...”

They were both cut off from their playful argument by a sudden flare of light, bathing the entire area in pale blue arc energy. Equal parts confused and ready for violence, Schade spun out of his cover with his rifle aimed at the source of whatever just exploded and saw another guardian helping him. A striker titan, apparently having made a very familiar-seeming entrance from a high place on the rocks, judging by the crater.

All that was left all of a sudden was the colossus, and Schade counted his blessings with bullets. He advanced and held down his trigger, unloading as many shots as possible from his auto rifle into the massive helmet. With the combined effort from the titan, he emptied his rifle and lobbed a grenade to match the other just freshly thrown, both sticking to the massive unit and detonating hard enough to send it flying off the watchtower.

When all was said and done, the striker titan turned to face Schade. “'Ello, friend! Been a while!” It was Meteor-5, clad in upgraded armour but still just as chipper.

“Thought that was you,” Schade said as he rested his rifle and started striding up the ramp toward the terminal. “You've definitely got a signature entrance.”

“Yep! I'm a good jumper.” Meteor walked up after him like they were already in a fireteam. “Saw ye go flyin' up through the Scablands and figured I'd come say hello! Also, I never got yer name.”

Ori phased into view, but instead of going to the terminal next to them, he only smiled at the titan. “Since I know he's never going to tell you, his name is Schade-9.” His explanation got him a sharp glare from his guardian. “And I'm Ori. Nice to meet you again!”

“Oh! I remember hearin' you on comms!” Meteor grinned, seeming to take Schade's distant head-shake in stride. “And good meetin' ye, Schade. Much better than Dickhead-1... This is Lily,” he said as his own ghost phased into view.

“A pleasure,” she said with a slight chuckle as she watched Ori be literally pulled to the terminal by one corner of his shell.

“Little traitor,” Schade mumbled at a whisper to Ori, who only laughed as he hacked into the Cabal terminal.

“So, where ye headed?”

Schade forced himself to not sound like a dick. “Got a lead on a major Vex installation here on Mars. Headed in to get the last bit of intel I need to gain access.”

Lily chirped quietly. “Our scans earlier revealed sizeable Cabal forces all around the area in response to the Vex invasions to the locale...”

Meteor squared up a bit. “Gettin' pretty rough out there... I'll go with ye. Nothin' wrong with havin' a little titan muscle in the group.”

Schade was about to tell him to bug off, but the look Ori was giving him made him pause. He let out a sigh. “Sure, why not.” The response made Ori grin.

“Alright!” Meteor said with a little pump of his fists. “Where we headed, then?”

Ori had finished scanning the data and chittered at them. “There's another tunnel nearby that leads through the Wastes. Once we break through in the Legion's Keep, the spire we need is there. All we need is to charge the Gate Lord's eye, so we'll need to hold that point until it's done.”

Schade nodded and holstered his rifle. “Sounds good.” He put one foot on the railing, ready to hop down and start in that direction, but turned to face Meteor. A few thoughts went through his head before he said anything. “...You better keep up. I'm not stopping unless the Cabal make me.”

Meteor only nodded, ready to hop off the same railing. “Ye can count on me.”

Seeming satisfied with this, Schade took off from the railing and summoned his sparrow mid-jump, taking off through the tunnel and finding Meteor to be just behind him... He wasn't even sure why he had briefly locked up on the watchtower. After working with him to take down the Valus, he somewhat liked the titan despite how reckless he was. He was no Civil, but the two titans had their similarities, aside from the fact that nearly every titan he knew was a striker. Despite being titans, they both seemed impossibly slow to anger, and the fact that they seemed to share the same intuition was not missed by him. He banked his sparrow around the corners of the tunnel and caught himself thinking too deeply, as well as catching Ori picking up on all of that.

“...We'll, uh, have to cross that bridge,” the ghost said as they broke out into the open.

“Bridge?” Meteor stopped his sparrow next to Schade's and looked up at the elongated structure. It seemed that was the only way into the raised rocky mass they seemed to be headed towards. “Ah... It's got Cabal on it.”

“Lots of Cabal,” Schade supported as he climbed off and resumed on foot. He pulled out his rifle and approached the ramp leading to the bridge. “Not a lot of cover, either... Hope you're ready to fight in a bottleneck.”

Meteor walked up behind him and rolled his shoulders, arc energies briefly playing up his arms. “Jus' point me in the right direction, friend! I got this!”

Schade allowed himself a little chuckle, then turned to engage. They faced numerous units on the bridge, from psions and legionaries to phalanxes and centurions, but the colossus at the end was what made the advance the most difficult. By the time the thresher came down to offer cover fire, Schade had already died once and Meteor four times... He just couldn't stay out of the way of that machine gun. It took several minutes to cross the bridge, but with enough force, they eventually made it. Clearing out the three legionaries on the other side seemed all too easy after that. The area was wide open around them, interrupted only by the tall Vex spire in the center of the Cabal's circular research deck.

“Finally.” Schade let out an exasperated sigh once the last threat fell, then trotted up to what he recognized as a conduit point. It was circular, and just the right size for the eye. He pulled it out of a pocket obscured by his cloak, tossing it up and catching it before moving to put it in place.

Meteor walked up to join him after first admiring the spire. “What's that thing?” He said with a nod toward the eye.

“This,” Schade began as he worked, “is a key... Which, oddly enough, needs to be charged like a battery.” He gave it one final wedge and it clicked into place. The structure almost immediately reacted, humming as a single thread of light spanned between the eye and the spire.

“I have no idea what's going to happen,” Ori said over the comms as the spire began to rumble and glow. “But knowing your luck, I'd get your guns ready...”

The spire's upper half started cracking in ninety-degree angles, throwing off Cabal cables as blocks of itself began to separate and float around. The dark, metallic-looking rectangles spread out to reveal the giant Vex conflux inside before disappearing into the familiar glowing, white threads of Vex latticework. What was left was a single rectangular piece that looked like a plate of glass inscribed with geometric curves and circles. The amount of light and sound caused by this thing was sure to attract some company.

“Contact left!” Lily said as a gate opened on the other side of the area, revealing with no delay the sheer _size_ of the Cabal that just emerged from it. He was flanked by numerous legionaries and psions coming out of the same gate...

Ori waited until the two guardians had taken cover before talking. “Dossier says we're up against Primus Sha'aul of the Blind Legion. He's a centurion by practice, but not like any I've seen before... Report says he's got a projection rifle.”

Just as Ori finished talking, part of Schade's cover erupted into pebbles as the rifle sent three mortars that managed to blow off a corner of it. “...Why's everything they shoot outta these things gotta explode? Why can't they use normal bullets and lasers like everyone else?”

Meteor racked a shotgun just nearby. “Guess it's time t'pop some skulls... Takin' a page outta your book this time!” He tipped his shotgun to him like it was a drink, then rolled around his cover to go engage the legionaries.

Schade just shook his head, then lunged with his knife at a psion that found him. “Guess I better help keep some of the heat off of you before your ghost gets tired of rezzing you!”

Now with both guardians out of cover, the Cabal were starting to scurry and fire. The Primus, however, had other ideas. The giant among giants took a jetpack-assisted leap across the platforms and landed near enough to Schade that he tried to smash the hunter with the butt of his rifle.

“Oshit!” Schade deftly twirled out of the way with hardly any room for error, making sure to get some distance between them before trying to reengage. “Careful, he's quicker than he looks!”

Meteor had just taken a freshly-killed psion by the leg and swung it at a legionary, knocking it senseless enough to put a shotgun blast under its chin. “Got it!” He took a Cabal slug to the shoulder and returned the damage with a grenade, then ran unevenly to cover while Lily came out to heal him.

Schade briefly engaged a legionary with his knife before the massive soldier managed to drag himself away with quite a bit of damage. Schade had glanced over just in time to see the fresh volley of mortars coming at him and rolled out of the way, miraculously managing to avoid any damage. “He's got better aim than the Valus, I think,” Schade commented just before a bright flash caught his eye. He looked over to see Meteor had popped his super and was going full hands-on with the Primus, which was possibly the only time it was a good idea to punch a gun.

Schade took advantage of the chaos and zipped out of cover with his sidearm, popping a psion's head full of holes before moving on to the legionaries. He managed to dispatch two of them before the arc light died out and he slipped back into cover. He looked to see the Primus still standing, albeit now with severely damaged armour, and Meteor stumbling back a bit as mortars struck him. He watched the titan only barely make it to cover before a psion hit him with a wall of energy, sending him just to one side as his visor shattered. He wasn't getting up from that.

Schade cringed as Lily came out to rez him and the psion started closing in. “Oh no you don't,” the hunter growled as he sprinted from his cover to slash its throat open before it could get to Meteor's ghost. He hugged the parapet just under the conduit and held his hand out to Lily, sharing his own light to rez the titan faster as he watched the Primus milling a bit closer to them. “We better step up our game a bit, buddy. We don't want a repeat of the Valus.”

Meteor got up with a grunt, rolling as he tried to follow the nimble hunter away from the mortar blasts that lit up where they had just been. He glanced up at the conduit as it took a mortar hard enough to make the light thread shudder. “I think it's time to win, if'n that's good with ye...”

Schade picked up on what he was looking at, gripping his fists together as his own arc energies started to crawl through him. “Oh, I agree...” The electricity growled and snapped as he brought his light to the fore, then suddenly disappeared from view. As the Primus closed in on Meteor, the first strike from the blade dancer came from behind him, backlighting his armour as a piece of it went flying off to the side. The massive Cabal whirled, agile for his size but just not fast enough to prevent the second strike that sliced deeply across his ribs and sent electricity racing through his nerves. He tried to strike at Schade, but the hunter only flipped up on top of the Primus's shoulder and gave a chuckle... The look in his eyes was absolutely wild. Schade sprung upwards, then suddenly came down with both arc blades into Sha'aul's shoulder, definitely breaking it and damn near severing it. He went for a second strike, but this time the Primus had gotten lucky.

The moment Schade whipped around to hit him again, he was met with a hard left hook from Sha'aul's remaining functional arm. The arc flashes stopped almost instantly and Schade hit the ground almost as hard as he'd hit the fist. He was dazed, just trying to get up off of all fours when the furious Cabal's boot hovered over him for a killing blow.

“I gotcha!” Meteor growled as he sent a flying knee into the side of the Cabal's helmet, knocking him away from Schade as the hunter found his feet. He definitely rang his bell, sending the big body to the ground before drawing back to unload as many shotgun blasts into his head as he could. He managed three before the Primus roared in a haze and tried to swing on him.

Ori brought Schade's senses back to him in time to see Sha'aul, now gashed and leaking black fluid along with the various dents Meteor had put into him, struggling for his footing. Meteor was backpedaling, trying to reload while the Cabal stumbled dizzily away from him. Schade smirked and unholstered his sniper rifle. There was a cracked parapet nearby that made for a perfect stand, and the crosshairs lined up nicely. “Rifles don't shoot mortars, you fucking walrus.” He squeezed the trigger, and Primus Sha'aul's helmet went flying off along with a spray of viscous, dark fluid.

The body fell and the two guardians stared at it for a moment. Both were a little tired from the fight, but at least there was nothing left on the field. “And there we go!” Meteor said cheerily to break the silence.

Schade slung his sniper with a sigh and started making his way back up to the conduit. “Got a mean left hook, though,” he said with a playful rub of the side of his face.

“I saw that! You were like a ping-pong ball!”

Schade offered a quiet chuckle as he approached the eye, but his humour disappeared a bit when he saw the damage done to the conduit. He knelt down and inspected the eye, tugging at it. It was definitely stuck in there.

“The conduit is shifted, but I'm not detecting any damage to the eye beyond a few scratches,” Ori explained. “It's charged. Be careful not to lose a finger trying to get it out of there. The fittings got sharp when they bent.”

Schade put his whole fist around the eye and yanked, sighing with frustration. “It's not like you can't just regenerate my fingers later. You've replaced my whole damn head, I don't think a hand would be too mu-”

The conduit flared the moment the eye shifted, sending a field of uneven Vex latticework up Schade's arm before loudly popping out of existence with a bright flash. The short-out put the hunter on his back, dazed and mostly unconscious as the angled light glittered away.

Meteor jumped at the flash and jogged up to him to find Ori already healing him. “Y'okay, friend?” He knelt down next to his shoulder as the smaller exo blinked back to his senses.

Despite his ghost healing him, Schade still seemed a little stunned. “Well, that was... Special,” he said as Meteor helped him sit up. He looked at his arm a bit before shaking it like it still buzzed.

“It really was,” Ori supported with a bit of a nervous tone. “When you touched the conduit's energy stream, it shorted out and did quite a bit of damage to you... But when I went to heal you, it was like it never happened.”

Meteor chuckled. “Oh, it definitely happened.”

Schade was rubbing at his wrist and staring off a bit, but it didn't last long before he found his feet. “Let's get this eye and head in.” He used his knife this time to bend the prongs around the conduit. “The Black Garden's not gonna destroy itself.”

“Woah, wait,” Meteor said with one hand out, sounding much less lackadaisical than he typically did. “You're going to the Black Garden? Isn't that the Vex homeworld?”

“Birthplace, yeah,” Schade said as he finally pried the eye free of its station. “This isn't an invasion... The Vex are being called back to the Garden. Something is about to happen there, and we're gonna stop it before they get a foothold.”

Ori blinked at him. “Called back...? Where did you hear this?”

“...Call it a hunch.”

“Well, yer not goin' alone,” Meteor resolved from just nearby, having stood at his full height now. “Not leavin' that one up for choice. If'n what ye say's right, there's no tellin' just how many Vex are gonna be there. Yer gonna need all the help ye can get.”

Schade finally turned to face the titan. “Look, I'm not ungrateful for the help. The Cabal are a handful even on a good day, and I probably couldn't have done this without your help, so thank you... But Vex are something I know how to fight. I know exactly what I'm getting into, and I'm not about to drag you with me.”

Meteor tilted his head in frustrated confusion. “Ye'd go up against hydras and cyclopes _by yerself?”_

“Wouldn't be the first time, won't be the last.” Schade was already moving away after pocketing the eye, Ori following close behind.

“Look, I know ye got a death wish, but the least ye could do is do it where the Light shines.”

Schade stopped in his tracks, pausing before turning a look to the titan that even made Ori recoil. _“Excuse me?”_

“Suicidal ideation's not lost on me, friend,” Meteor said as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Whatever ye been through, yer lettin' it ride you down. It's winnin', even if yer not seein' it.”

Schade took a few steps toward him, bristling. “You better watch what waters you're fishing in, titan. I don't think you'll appreciate what bites back.”

“I've handled some pretty big biters,” Meteor said, unabashed. “Ye don't scare me. Good people don't, even when they think they need to scare everythin' away from 'em. I dunno who ye lost or to what, an' I may not be able to help ye by bringin' 'em back, but I can at least show ye how stupid it is to let that kind of evil win by tryin' to join the ones they took from ye.”

Schade looked ready to fight. His fists were clenched and his palms itched for his knives. He could tell Ori was just nearby, tensely silent and hoping this doesn't escalate any further. “...Just go back to the Tower,” was all he managed to growl before he turned to walk away.

Meteor said nothing as the hunter took a quick leave, but didn't miss the look Ori was giving him before the ghost phased back to his guardian. He just stood there and watched as Schade hopped over the edge of the bridge, breaking line of sight before reappearing again on his sparrow, kicking up sand as he disappeared back into the tunnel. The titan let out a breath and offered a glance to Lily, then started walking.

Ori didn't dare speak. He'd spoken to Schade like that once before, back before either of them knew how to handle what they'd just been through, and it helped nothing. To have someone else call him out like that, especially now that his common reaction to that kind of pressure is aggression, left him wondering how his guardian was going to handle himself in the field. This was new for both of them. Schade hasn't worked with guardians in years, much less had his demons confronted by one. All he could do was exist silently in the back of his mind as they sped past Firebase Rubicon and out into the open, making an expedient trail toward the gate.

“...I saw it when I touched the conflux.”

Ori almost jumped. “Saw what? When the eye shorted out on you?”

Schade nodded quietly as he drove. “The Vex are being called back to the Black Garden. There's something there that's... Not controlling them, that's not the right word...” He paused in thought as they rounded a corner into a narrow pathway. “It was a call, but the response wasn't quite symbiotic. It was pure obedience, but with choice. I'm not certain I didn't sense gratitude.”

“That sounds an awful lot like worship.”

“It's what it felt like...”

“What could the Vex have possibly found that they would _worship?”_ The implications of something powerful enough to sway a collective worried him. In the same vein, the way Schade was using his words was also very concerning. “What happened when you touched that thing?” If it was Schade's intention to not talk about what just happened between him and Meteor, he'd won this time.

Schade slowed his sparrow as they drew closer, either out of the desire to stay unnoticed or simply out of thought. “...I think I partially linked up to the Vex network for a moment,” he explained quietly, almost to himself. “I'm pretty sure it was just a moment on your end, but I saw things... There was a mountain, and fields of red flowers divided by chasms that led into darkness. I saw a red eye, but it almost looked like a ghost. And I was seeing myself out in one of the fields, but I looked different, and I was... Making eye contact with myself? It was very bizarre...”

“All of this sounds significant... You should probably go to the Vanguard with this. See what Miss Ikora has to say.”

“Good idea...” He trailed off as he stared up at the massive Vex gate ahead in the distance. Dark energy rippled and flaked off of its surface, which was something he hadn't noticed before from the structure. What he did notice was the small but growing force of Vex gathering under it. They were disappearing into the ring one by one in a flash of angled light. Schade steeled himself and gunned his sparrow forward...

One of the three minotaurs stomped around the white stone blocks, incapable of curiosity as goblins stiffly marched past it to disappear into the gate. Its large red eye scanned a nearby discrepancy on the ground, likely an old guardian footprint, while the hydra behind it purred from its stationary floating spot directly in front of the half-buried ring. The minotaur stopped scanning when it heard something humming and turned to see an unmanned sparrow careening directly at its face.

Schade zipped in the moment his sparrow decapitated the first minotaur, sticking a grenade to the second one's eye as he gracefully danced right past it. By the time he touched the ground again, he was already trading fire with the third minotaur. His grenade detonated and killed the second and he took cover before the hydra dumped void charges where he just stood. Two down, one with no shields, and an angry hydra... No rush. They would come to him. He cut around one of the blocks to run to where he'd just seen the hydra, knowing full well it had already advanced to where he was. He pulled out his sniper and rounded the corner to a perfect shot as the hydra's temporal shield panels had rotated as it moved. Both it and the minotaur had closed in on where he had disappeared, completely distracted. Schade lined up a shot directly on the hydra's spinal column and squeezed, popping most of its cranial housing loose and generally pissing it off. The hydra turned to face him in full, its eye flickering as it recovered from its brief stun. The minotaur was just behind it, blocked from firing on him by the continuous rotation of the hydra's shields. He smirked and dipped behind another block as the hydra finally fired on him again. He could play cat-and-mouse all day with these otherwise terrifying death robots, but he had things to do.

Putting his firearms away, he snuck around another corner and pulled out his knife. He stalked the blocks until he saw the Hydra again, then sprinted forward between its shield panels and jumped to drive his knife into the side of its eye. He swung his legs up over its head, spinning the eye with it as it detached freely from the frame. He jerked hard to the side as he flipped off of it, yanking the eye and with it a long central cable network that came out all the easier for the damaged cranial housing. Now hollow and spewing its glowing white radiolarian fluid, it toppled in the direction Schade had yanked it, landing on top of the last minotaur and starting to self-destruct.

Schade nonchalantly walked toward the gate as he dislodged the shattered eye from his knife, not even looking back as the two robots detonated themselves. He sighed a little as the eye's light faded and he tossed it away, wiping the bit of radiolaria from his blade on his thigh before sheathing it. “Typical,” he mumbled as he stepped up the stairs toward the arch and stopped. He paused long enough to think on what he was about to do, contemplating the gate as it rippled the light around it in a very uneven manner. “Think they're going to be this stupidly aggressive in the Garden?”

Ori chittered. “I don't know, but we need to be ready for anything. Once we cross into their realm, there's no telling what we'll find...”

Schade could feel the gate pulling at him, beckoning him to close the distance and step through. He hadn't felt that feeling since his time on Venus around the gates there. Even so, the call was different here. More compelling. Darker. He felt like something was at his back, but he knew nothing was there. With a tilt of his head and a subtle rolling back of his shoulders, he unholstered his auto rifle and stepped into the gate.

The bending of the light was disorienting at first, almost as much as the shifting gravity. It made him reflexively get a jumping start in anticipation that his footing was about to change. His first time walking through a Vex gate had left him facedown in the Venusian mud, and given how acidic its atmosphere was, it was an entirely unpleasant experience. Hell if he knew what kind of ground he was about to touch. When his feet touched solid ground and his vision cleared, he peered about to see walls and floors of familiar pale, etched stone. There were intermittent spherical elements here and there, and everything was overgrown with soft, green grass. The cool, greenish lighting was so subtle, he almost couldn't see any shadows or highlights, like there was a fog without fog. There was no wind, no sound of wildlife anywhere, not even an insect despite the presence of sparse flowers here and there... It was hauntingly beautiful.

“Oi, that was weird...”

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice behind him, whirling his rifle to see Meteor getting up from the ground just near him. He lowered his rifle, disbelief and pure annoyance hidden behind his helmet.

“...'Ello, friend!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Schade actually holds a great deal of respect for the Awoken Queen, seeing her cold disposition as a necessity for survival. He even finds her to be quite beautiful, but not to worry, he feels nothing for her. His jabs at Uldren, however, are completely heartfelt. While Uldren is physically pretty handsome, Schade thinks the expressions the man holds make him horribly ugly. He purely despises the Prince's snobbish attitude and doesn't remotely recognize the man's royal status, even before his sister the Queen... First impressions are lasting ones.
> 
> \- I had someone offsite ask me where the Exo Stranger was, and I'm afraid I'm not going to be including her in this story until I get into Schade's Destiny 2 arc. When Schade's curiosity for Clovis Bray gets stronger. And Ana Bray is involved. And she talks about Elsie. So... No. Not yet. Elements like her and some of the missions that occur between the missions on Venus and Mars to the Black Garden can be explained away by Schade's studies on the Vex. He's dedicated a large chunk of his life to studying them, and this allows me to cut out or add to certain missions that would otherwise make this story boring and repetitive. I'm not here to retype Destiny's lore with a named guardian.
> 
> \- Meteor's line "I'm a good jumper" is actually an inside joke between his player and I. This initially stemmed off of the King's Fall raid when he succeeded on his very first try at the jumping puzzle with little to no instruction and that was literally all he said after the whole ordeal... He became a meme. We tease him with it on the regular. At literally every applicable moment. You froggy lad.
> 
> \- Lily is Meteor's ghost, and Ori is Schade's ghost. Lily is the name of Meteor's player's cat, Ori is the name of my cat. This is a trend you'll see in much of my writing, and this won't be the last reference to this sort of behaviour you'll see. >:]
> 
> \- By the time I was writing the last encounter with Primus Sha'aul, it was almost sunrise and I was beyond exhausted. When I went back to proofread the nonsense, I found the line "rifles don't shoot mortars, you fucking walrus" and decided it was the one sleep-deprived line I wanted to leave in there. I don't remember typing it, but I laughed uncontrollably today when I found it.
> 
> \- Schade's exposure to the conduit is significant, and the visions he saw are just as so. Without being too spoilery, this is something to keep in mind as it marks a very driving change in Schade's future, innocuous as it seems now.
> 
> \- There is another trend occurring here, and it is an oddly specific thing... Can you spot it before chapter eleven?


	5. Paths To Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Garden is a grey, unwelcoming place. Schade and Meteor find themselves tentatively working together to survive the mission, but the simple act of working with another guardian can mean vastly different things. For Meteor, it is a chance to strengthen himself and form his first friendship as a guardian. For Schade, it is the revealing of an old wound, still tender and vulnerable...

**Paths To Take**

Eris stood in a corner, silently contemplating her own mysteries while the Vanguard debated amongst themselves. For all the things they could be doing to prepare, they were talking? She never understood them, but then she knew they hadn't seen what she had in the dark. She was pulled from her musings by the sound of Cayde-6 already becoming as frustrated with the continuous talks as she.

"So you're... _Not_ going to survey the moon?"

"No," Zavala said firmly, as if for the fifth time today. "The Hive are becoming so numerous that they're driving back the Fallen out of the Cosmodrome. We need Guardians on the front, or they'll be at our doorstep before we know it."

Ikora folded her arms at the both of them. "You're both right, and both wrong. The Hive are driven by forces from the caves on Luna, but the sheer force of presence in that area is so strong that pulling Guardians to strike where we need to would leave us defenseless."

Cayde put his palms out. "Exactly! That's why we don't _strike_ yet, we _survey_ first! I've got plenty of scouts out there who could volunteer for a silent op." He was already pulling out his PDA and scrolling, going through an apparent list of dossiers.

Zavala put his own device down and tilted his head from side to side, trying to get his tense neck to pop. "Ikora is right, the Hive are far too populous in the Catacombs to send a single hunter in to scout, and the new blood would certainly not stand a chance there..."

Cayde seemed to stop and stare at a message on his PDA, for the most part ignoring Zavala's reasoning.

Ikora, however, somewhat squinted at him. "You still underestimate the recent wave of guardians... One fireteam of three has already claimed the life of the Fist of Crota, and another pair are actively pursuing the trail of Omnigul in the Cosmodrome."

"Uh, guys...?"

Zavala's jaw ticced. "Not to downplay their efforts, but I've yet to see the enemy's numbers decrease as they need to."

"Guys?"

Ikora folded her arms now. "The Hive are multiplying like flies on a corpse, and you expected otherwise? Considering the math, the new guardians are doing just fine-"

"Hey!" Cayde waved his arms in the air between them, done with being ignored from across the table. "Don't mean to interrupt your bonding moment, but one of my scouts just reported two guardians activating a Vex portal and stepping inside. You know, the big one on Mars?"

Zavala quirked a brow. "Interesting, but I don't see how it relates to our discussion."

Cayde's face was quite serious. "It's just been confirmed it leads to the Black Garden."

That had the Vanguard's attention. "The Black Garden?" Ikora repeated for certainty. "The very heart of darkness... Are they mad?"

Zavala saw Cayde read further and seemed to tense in frustration. "Let me guess... It's Schade-9, isn't it?"

"Yep," the exo said with a sigh. "Though your guess is as good as mine as to who the titan is that followed him in... Not usually the kid's style to head out with a friend."

"Can we make contact?" Ikora questioned, eyes glued to Cayde.

"Doubt it. Vex tech is finicky when it comes to comms."

Eris sneered. "Playing in the Garden, all the while the Hive come ever closer to calling forth their god..."

Cayde ignored the woman's chiding and moved to a terminal, tapping away at some keys. "I've gotten transmissions from scouts before after they figured out how to get into gates, but they're weird and tend to not make much sense. I once got a transmission from a scout calling for backup before he even got into the gate and found the threat. Really freaked him out, too, since he was standing right next to me. Vex and their timey-wimey shenanigans..."

Zavala and Ikora simply watched as Cayde went through screen after screen, attempting to find a precise time and location for communication. Setting up a comms link with a pair of guardians in a realm that had no respect for the flow of time was going to be difficult...

"The _fuck_ are you thinking?!" Schade was laughing, but there was nothing funny about their situation. "Are you _even_ thinking?"

Meteor only shrugged at him. "O' course I am! S'why I came in here."

They seemed to have been arguing for a while in their landing zone. Schade's irritated tone was matched on par with Meteor's matter-of-fact positivity, their voices the only sounds heard in the ethereal realm. Even their ghosts had taken to simply floating out in the open and watching them... It was pretty entertaining.

After a while of this back-and-forth, Schade let out a growling sigh and turned around a step or two, only to turn back to face the titan. "Look, I never asked you to come here. I got this handled... But since there's obviously _no way back_ in here, you're gonna have to stick with me. Just keep close, and don't... Don't punch the damn hydras."

"Oh, wasn't plannin' on it." Meteor got his hands comfortable around his pulse rifle as he moved to follow Schade, who was obviously done standing and talking to him.

The two moved just around the corner of their foreign hallway, padding quietly through grass and smoothe stone floors until they had reached a new area. The two froze as they snapped their scopes up to a group of Vex... They appeared like statues. Nothing moved.

"Uhh, Ori? What do we have here?"

The ghost phased into view and scanned the moss-covered goblin, then peered to the rest. "Completely unaware, almost offline... They're in some kind of stasis."

Meteor was poking at the darkened eye of another goblin just nearby. "Heh, like suits of armour in a castle..."

Schade almost rolled his eyes. "Y'know, most people make references to the Golden Age, not the iron age..."

"But I can dream!" The titan gestured comically, then continued following his hunter friend through to the next clearing. More statuesque goblins awaited them, all lined neatly down the mossy halls. They remained dark and unresponsive as they neared and passed, like sleeping guards in an overgrown prison. "...Wouldn't it be jus' bloody fantastic if they all came to life right as we walked by?"

Schade made a face at Meteor and opened his mouth to respond, but nearly jumped out of himself when one of the goblins activated and grabbed him by the arms. _"Jesus fuck!"_ His shout was nearly drowned out by the hail of bullets he responded with, both guardians now fully engaged with the six goblins that simply woke up in response to their presence. A roar caught Schade's ear and he turned to see a minotaur charging them from around the corner. "You don't get to say things anymore!" He yelled with a pointed finger at Meteor, who was now laughing.

They fought through the confines and into an open room, where they encountered more Vex hiding amid the crystalline metal columns throughout. Two snipers held the far right while a minotaur came charging from a hole in the wall to the left with a small detachment of goblins in tow. "I got the snipers, you go punch that minotaur."

"I'd love to!" Meteor went charging toward the group on the left, holstering his rifle and getting right to slamming his fists into the massive robot. He hit the side of its chassis with a left hook hard enough to make something crack inside, which definitely pissed it off. It went to bring its gun down on the titan's head, but Meteor simply caught the giant by the wrist and held it. The initial impact on his forearms was enough to do something rather nasty to his ulna, but he could deal with that later. His arms still functioned just fine and a hefty right haymaker to the core was enough to shatter glass in the minotaur and spill radiolaria out of its body. Another right hook and the wobbly robot finally hit the ground, and now he could see the goblins. "Easy peasy!" He grinned as he simply reached out to pick up a goblin and use it as a weapon against the others.

Schade had only just dispatched the last hobgoblin sniper, slashing its head clean off with his knife before turning to see Meteor just having fun on the other side of the room. "Did you just hit a goblin with another goblin?"

Meteor threw the shattered, twitching body on the ground and nothing else moved around him, then gave the hunter a thumbs-up. "Absolutely!"

A chuckle escaped the darker exo, then he sheathed his knife and moved on forward. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel Ori brightening up. It wasn't lost on him that his ghost was silently grateful for Meteor and Lily joining them, and despite their shared comments the last time they worked together, something about working with the titan felt right. With no movement on his sensors, the quiet walk allowed him to simply think on this matter without the Vex interrupting. He wasn't sure if what he was feeling was hope or just simple amusement, but he didn't mind traveling with the other exo at all. His character was unusual... He'd been gruff and dismissive with him this whole time, but the titan was never without a grin in his voice. Even though he was a striker and quick to come to blows, he seemed infinitely patient with him.

"Oi, lookit that." Meteor interrupted his thoughts from just behind him, gesturing toward an area that opened up to the outside. Long, leafy reeds swayed slowly in the room like seaweed, and a perfectly clear pool of water rested on the mossy stone in the middle. By far the most interesting thing in the room, its surface calmly rippled and pinched, moving like oil as single droplets formed and slowly rose upwards toward the intricately jagged metal ceiling.

"You know," Schade started as they both watched the droplets rise and disappear into the ceiling. "Gravity has an effect on time... I wouldn't be surprised if that's how they do it. Manipulate gravitational forces to such a degree that they can actually control time, like putting your hand in the flow of water to change its speed and direction."

"Maybe... Then how do they make new timelines, then?" The titan questioned, tilting his head to the ever-curious hunter.

Schade shrugged a bit, then began to walk onward. "Not sure... Definitely something I'm going to have to add to my... Studies..." He slowed distractedly at the opening of the room, stopping at a wide-open view of the world before them.

The stone cliffs around them gave way to a hazy darkness above, uncertain as to whether or not they were underground or amidst more vertical structures. Despite the near-black sky and greenish fog, everything seemed illuminated by some unseen light, revealing miles of fields on the ground below. Each field was divided by deep trenches, harsh gashes lined with perfectly angled stone walls that disappeared into a dense haze that obscured the ground far below. A half-collapsed mountain loomed miles away in the distance, a plateaued, monolithic bowl that exuded a sinister green light. As Schade gazed downward at the seemingly unending field of red flowers, the feeling crept into his mind that they had stumbled upon the playground of a profane god...

"...Ey, friend?"

Schade didn't turn to look at Meteor until Ori pinged him out of the shadowed corners of his mind. "Yeah, sorry. Just... Admiring the view," he dismissed as he stepped away from the edge he'd somehow walked to, jogging down the grassy hill toward the titan as they continued onward.

Ori momentarily phased into view, gazing out at the fields only briefly before rejoining them. "There's something incredibly dark down there... I think it's the heart."

"Prob'ly... Let's go punch it and get out of here!"

Schade openly laughed. "Of course you would recommend punching it."

As they walked, Meteor seemed aghast. "But... What else would I do to it?!"

"I dunno, stab it, maybe?"

"No, _you_ do that!"

A shared chuckle led them across the way, rounding the corner to the descent into the trenches between the fields. The precarious walkway was uneven and high up, but the lack of sides made it that much easier to shortcut their way down to the next level, even if Meteor's ghost had to come out to heal his ankles once. Further in, movement on their radars had their weapons drawn as they silently approached a wide opening. Various Vex tech produced enough light to make it seem like an Earth afternoon and there was plenty of cover, but there was also a large detachment of Vex in the apparent bowl of an area.

"Alright, what can you tell us, bud?" Schade spoke quietly to Ori, who materialized next to him with a quiet buzz.

"The eye is certainly reacting to something here... It only looks like a dead end, but I can sense the heart just beyond that wall there."

Lily phased in just next to him. "I'm detecting a couple conduits nearby... Think we could hack them?"

Ori turned to her with a thoughtful blink. "Overriding their systems isn't out of the realm of possibility... I've gotten pretty good at deciphering Vex coding, thanks to this lunatic," he said with a nod to Schade, who simply gave his ghost a look.

"Two conduits, two ghosts," Schade reasoned as he looked to Meteor. "We split up. You take control of the left wing, I'll take the right. There are hydras on the field, so watch the blast radius from their cannons."

Meteor nodded. "Looks like we got snipers out there, too... Mind yer melon."

Lily sharpened her gaze on her titan. "And watch yourself carefully here... I'll have no issues healing you, but rezzing you here is another story."

Meteor seemed a little concerned, for once. "Is that so?"

"It's dark," Ori responded in her stead. "While you two can't feel it, we ghosts can, and it's got our power throttled. It takes significantly less effort to fuse a bone back together than it does to pull life back into your body if you get killed out there. It will take an inordinate amount of effort to bring you back, if we can at all..." The look he gave to Schade was telling enough. Ori was actually nervous about this.

Schade briefly thumbed the bottom of Ori's shell, giving him a reassuring nod. "We'll be careful out there... But you two have to watch yourselves while you're hacking, too," he said to both ghosts.

Meteor nodded with a grunt. "We'll do our best t'keep 'em off o'ye, so scan fast n' come back faster."

Ori peeked over their cover to see the sparse Vex mingling amid the ruins, then to the two conduits... They were on opposite ends of the room, which was actually quite a large area. He hovered back down to give his guardian a serious look. "And _you two_ will be out there fighting with our attention divided. So, to reiterate Lily's point, you both need to watch yourselves while we're busy."

Schade nodded to his ghost, his tone upbeat. "You got it, boss."

Meteor watched the way the two interacted, openly stunned about the sheer difference he saw in the hunter's disposition when he spoke to Ori. While many guardians were extremely close to their ghosts, he got the distinct impression that they were all they had. Schade's interactions with other guardians were distant at best, and he even though he endured the brevity of his behaviour, he knew he was getting the hunter's best effort from guardian to guardian. In the back of his mind where his unwanted thoughts lurked, he remembered the stories of guardians who had gone off the deep end after their ghosts were destroyed and wondered with some level of survival instinct what this particular guardian would do if that were to happen...

"Get ready to move," Schade said as he backed up against their cover, both ghosts disappearing into their helmets.

The titan checked his thoughts and plugged into the current situation, reassessing their surroundings briefly. "Guns blazin'? Or all sneaky like? 'Cause I'm no good at that second bit."

Schade smirked at him from behind his helmet. "You're sure not, but you can be." He nodded up to some of their surroundings. "Both times you've made your signature entrance, you damn near snuck up on me... You're a good jumper anyway."

Meteor gave him the wildest grin behind his own visor, his hidden laughter heard as he spoke. "Damn right, I am!" Some quiet mention from Lily over comms sounded a bit like "don't encourage him," but Meteor was already doing his best to quietly scale the nearby wall.

Schade darted around the opposite side of the arena, staying low in the dull lighting with his rifle stowed. His cloak was black and white, so trying to move with the grass was out of the question. However, the dark, angular metal against pale stone made for a decent compromise. He saw one goblin starting to turn toward Meteor's direction and lobbed a knife as far as he could to reach it before it saw the titan climbing above it. It struck the robot in the torso and clearly pissed off everything around it, but he was already behind a squared column by the time they turned to locate the source of the engagement. He halted as silently as he could behind another block of stone the moment he heard the growl of a searching hydra. He would have to deal with this thing before he let Ori sit in his corner. He peered as carefully as he could around the corner of his cover to see the massive machine next to him, lucky to find its gaze peering off to the side instead of spotting him just eight feet away...

Meteor had found himself a relatively high place, maybe about fifty feet up above the ground. He looked around and spotted the two hydras, one conveniently within striking distance... That was just plain exciting. Something had the Vex moving and he could only guess it was Schade keeping them focused away from him. He knew once he landed, the fight would begin and it wouldn't stop until they were the only ones left, and he wouldn't have Lily to back up his recklessness.

"You gonna do it?" Lily chirped in the back of his mind.

"Oh, I'm gonna do it." He rubbed his hands together excitedly and took a few steps back, then went at a full titan sprint off the edge of his platform, feeling arc light go ramping through his system moments before he came plummeting down on top of the hydra. The shockwave that erupted from the strike detonated the machine instantly as well as a few goblins nearby, and he immediately set off toward the hobgoblin snipers on his side. Everything was looking at him now, and he couldn't help but just be totally happy about that.

The remaining hydra roared and turned to face the thunderous commotion, and Schade darted out like a viper as its barriers rotated with it. He scaled its spine in two steps and drove his knife into the flexible connection between its vertebra and cranial housing. The machine flexed and bucked in an unsettling fashion, but a simple twist of his knife was enough to stun it briefly and expose a particular bit of inner workings. Another slash of the knife and its barriers flickered out, and Schade dismounted before it could sling him into the nearby pillars. The hulking platform turned to face its assailant and Schade unloaded as many rounds from his auto rifle as he could into its eye as he backed carefully up the stairs toward the conduit. A flash of red caught his peripheral and he barely managed to dodge a shot from a hobgoblin's line rifle. "Dammit," he cursed quietly as the hydra recovered a measure and started to fire on him. It was barely functional, but definitely still enough to worry about. He ducked under another shot from the sniper and lobbed a knife at the lofty hobgoblin, pegging it right in its core with a satisfying splash of radiolaria. Springing over a small parapet, he covered and strafed around to target the hydra again. "How you doin' over there, Thumper?"

Meteor openly giggled over the comms, the sound of a goblin being smashed accompanying it. "Wha-? Did you just give me a nickname?!" He punched an approaching hobgoblin so hard, it flew into a nearby minotaur and took out its shields. Schade could see the titan in the distance throwing his thumbs in the air and facing him. "I love it!"

The hunter allowed a chuckle. "Don't get used to it. Focus on that big fella and get back with me when your ghost is at the conduit."

"Gotcha!"

A metallic roar caught his ear and he looked up to see the heavily damaged hydra looming over his hiding place. "Ah, welcome back." Knowing he wouldn't outrun its void cannons at this range, he instead opted for pure aggression and launched himself right at it. His typical knife helped him latch onto the thing's face just a split second before its cannons started firing. He held on to the handle with one hand as the thing reeled away, drawing out his sidearm with his free hand and jamming the barrel into its now shattered eye. "G'night," he bade, then fully unloaded the pistol's contents into its head until the lights went out.

He sprung toward the conduit as the hydra exploded, popping a few rounds into the encroaching goblins before turning to address the minotaur on his side of the arena. It was already charging him, shields flickering brightly. "Okay, big boy. Let's dance." Schade holstered his sidearm as the minotaur drew its massive cannon up to hit him with it, then bobbed one direction and abruptly spun the opposite way at the last possible moment. His rifle emerged from his cloak a blink before he touched the ground and he unloaded on the confused minotaur until its shields detonated, then another thrown knife found its home in the back of its skull.

"You got this, I got the conduit," Ori beeped as he phased into view and quickly drifted toward the disk-like surface behind them. "Be careful while I'm gone!"

"You're not gone, you're literally fifteen feet behind me."

"Eighteen, but okay," Ori corrected as he began to connect to the Vex hub.

Schade peppered another hobgoblin sniper and scanned the area for any threats beyond the handful of goblins marching their way towards him. A red line in his peripheral caught his attention and he could see another sniper shooting at something on the other side of the field. He couldn't see Meteor anymore. He keyed up his comms. "You good over there?"

The titan didn't respond for a couple seconds. "We're good, just reached the conduit. Not havin' a good time with this sniper."

"You hit?"

"Glancing blow over the shoulder... Nothin' to worry 'bout." Meteor was covered behind a metal column, peering at the scorch mark that ran laterally across his armour. It was a wonder the shot hadn't hit his helmet, but he gave credit to Lily's attentiveness for that one. In the distance, he could see the glowing latticework of a Vex spire forming in the middle of the room. He heard goblins marching closer and spun out from behind cover, serving them a heaping helping of shotgun before they could fire on Lily. With the three goblins down, he switched weapons and peered up at the sniper's stand to find it empty. "...Where'd it go?"

Lily was distracted with her scanning. "How did you lose a sniper? Find it before it pops your helmet!"

"Meteor, there's a third minotaur," Schade warned over comms. "I saw its shields go over the hill in your direction, but it was too covered for me to take the shot."

"Thanks for the warnin', friend," the titan said warily as he aimed down his hand cannon sights, eyes peeled for the rogue target. He knew there were targets to engage, but he couldn't see them. The sound of his hunter friend dispatching more Vex units across the way caught his ears and he couldn't decide if that eased him or just made him more tense.

"Vex codes are so confusing," Lily grumbled quietly, then fussed over comms. "Ori, I'm forwarding you a couple lines, what the hell does this mean?!"

Ori's response was almost instantaneous. "Here, try this."

A single beep, and Lily's mood improved exponentially. "Oh, that's... You weren't kidding when you said you were used to this. Your guardian really must be a lunatic."

"Yeah, kind of like yours, but scarier."

"I can agree with that!" She giggled.

"'Ey, I can be scary!" Meteor grinned as he turned back to face her. A very bad sound caught his ear and he turned to see the glowing red eye of an angry minotaur charging at him. He managed only one reflexive shot of his hand cannon before the massive robot essentially shoulder-checked him across the floor. He felt his ribs shift with the blow and tried to sit up from being thrown on his back, but the minotaur was having none of it. He quickly rolled to get away from the brief volley of void charges, catching only pebbles and light surface burns before opening fire on the robot's shields.

"I heard that, you alright?" Schade was calling over comms.

Meteor took advantage of the minotaur's stumble and forced himself to his feet as quickly as possible, trading his cannon for his shotgun and advancing on the platform with it until it dropped to the stone ground. He stopped and took in that pain for a moment, putting a hand on his side.

"Titan, say something..."

It took him a second. "Minotaur's down... Caught me good in the ribs, though." He was out of breath as he hobbled his way back to his ghost. "Gonna feel that one for a bit..."

Lily had just finished scanning as her guardian approached, and she turned to face him. She was about to move when her gaze shot up just over the titan's shoulder, focusing on the danger behind him. "Meteor!"

The wounded exo turned to the sound of a line rifle, but all he saw was the blur of a hunter's cloak. He heard the hobgoblin's shot connect and pierce through shielding, but it wasn't on him. Schade rolled clumsily to the ground and Meteor was quick to drag him behind the column they were next to.

"Aahhh, fuck," Schade coughed as he held one side of his chest. A single strand of smoke fizzled out from the wound that had only just started to bleed profusely.

"Did... Did you just take a shot for me?"

"I had shields, you didn't..."

Ori manifested in front of him, already addressing the shot to the chest. "I knew you should have saved a throwing knife... Stay conscious, this will take a second."

Meteor said nothing. His helmet tilted off to the side a moment before he rose to his feet and rounded the corner into the open. The moment he saw the sniper, he lobbed a grenade at it and stuck it to its chest as its rifle started to charge a shot. The detonation was more than enough to do the trick, popping the robot's head off into orbit somewhere across the room. He cringed at the pain in his ribs, honestly surprised he'd gotten the grenade to go where it needed to, then returned to Schade where the hunter sat on the ground. "Why didn't you jus' shoot it?"

"It was turned and charging a shot," he explained, already sounding better as Ori worked hard to heal the wound. "They don't flinch unless you detonate shields, which hobgobbies don't have, and I couldn't hit the core fast enough to kill it before it fired... And in this situation, it's a little more lucrative to have two wounded guardians than to have one dead one."

Meteor squinted at him as Lily did her best to heal his own injuries. "...And you didn't rush it instead?"

"Jeeze, just how fast do you think I am?"

"Good news and bad news," Ori interrupted as he finally finished healing his hunter. "Good news is, the spire is complete and we can use the gate lord's eye to get to the heart."

"And the bad news?" Schade found his feet and started brushing himself off.

"Bad news is, the spire is complete and we can use the gate lord's eye to-"

"Alright, I get it," Schade laughed with a gentle shove to his ghost.

Meteor rolled his shoulders a bit as Lily finished healing his ribs, stepping closer to the center gate with Schade. "...So s'this it? The heart of the Black Garden?"

Schade looked up with a nod as the circular gate responded to the intricate light of the eye and began to rotate and open. "...I have no idea what's in here."

The moment the gate opened to reveal what was behind it, both of their ghosts recoiled. The area was wide open to the dark and foggy sky with a looming gate in the center. Resting in the gate was a grotesque, undulating mass of pure darkness, its power veining out like synapse to everything nearby. What could only be described as a small army of goblins rested below... They looked like they were worshipping the heart.

_Schade..._ Ori's voice was clear in his mind, speaking so that only the hunter could hear. _...Please don't die. Not here..._

He hadn't heard that tone in his ghost's voice in years... The significance of that wasn't missed. Schade's grip on his rifle tightened and he entered the area. He wouldn't let him down.

The two exos stood on the level above the goblins as they all slowly turned to face them, all growling and keening in their metallic, profane language. The heart towering above all of them pulsed with pure darkness, overshadowing them with an opressive power they'd never quite experienced before.

"A rival god," Lily wondered quietly from just over Meteor's shoulder. "...Think you can punch _that?"_

"No," Schade answered instead as he refreshed his ammunition. "I think we can _kill_ that."

Meteor looked down at the goblins, then tilted his head back a bit. He suddenly looked startlingly menacing. "Ain't leavin' till it's done, then."

As the goblins started getting to their feet and more units started arriving from thin air, Schade got a little spunky. "Game on, then," he said as he hopped down to the level below, Meteor practically in his shadow and just as ready.

It was unclear who shot first, but everyone was shooting now. The guardians minded their movements and played the cover, and it didn't take long for radiolaria to cover the floor. As the minions of darkness fell before them, it almost seemed too easy...

"Schade, check seven!" Ori called through his helmet and he turned over his left shoulder to see the heart appearing to reach out to one of three massive Vex statues. The darkness settled into the stone's surface and the figure began to move and twist. "...Meteor, we've got an issue," the hunter called over comms.

The titan took to cover before turning to look, having learned his lesson already from the sniper in the previous area. "Well, that's not good," he decided as the stone minotaur broke free of its stasis and took aim at them.

Both guardians ducked into an overhanging structure as the towering unit opened fire with a massive volley of void charges. Schade looked more annoyed than anything else. "...Why is it always void?" He shot a look to Meteor, who was crouched across the way. "Why can't _I_ use void energy, huh? Is that too much to ask?"

"Huh, that'd be awesome!" Meteor chimed in as he pulled out his hand cannon.

Schade holstered his rifle and reached into his cloak to pull out another, more intimidating weapon. "I hear there are void hunters out there," he said rather casually as he unfolded his sniper. "Would be worth taking up an apprenticeship if I can figure it out... I swear I'm not far off."

Meteor changed his angle as Schade moved to set up a shot. "I think y'can do it!" He drew off to the side and put a few bullets against the giant's core, which did little more than get its attention and piss it off. Two things that would normally have the titan a little less than pleased.

"Yeah, I think I can, too," Schade said idly as he was lining up his sights from a hole in the wall, then squeezed the trigger once. The high-caliber shot to the core was enough to briefly stagger the massive minotaur, which in turn gave him enough time to fire three more shots directly against the platform's glass.

The mind roared and staggered as its core began to splinter and leak. All it took was a grenade from Meteor and the glass container finally shattered, sending the giant toppling to the ground in a heap of sparks and glowing white ooze. "Huh... I'm starting to think they're not even trying."

Schade shook his head, then snapped to attention and fired a sniper shot right over Meteor's head. "Move, titan!"

Meteor flinched at the shot, but turned to see another giant statue come to life and try to stomp on him. "Goddamn! I take it back!"

The guardians scrambled again as the new mind, sturdier and faster than the last, tried to blast them out of their hiding spots. More goblins and hobgoblins appeared from various corners of the garden, all marching in to defend their horrid nest.

Lily chittered over their comms. "It's using up a lot of energy to bring those things to life... I think it's dying!"

Meteor put a few more rounds into his shotgun and crept nearer to the edge of his cover. "Looks like we gotta keep the pressure on, then!"

Schade decapitated one goblin and shattered the core of another, then peeked around his cover at the angry giant. It was just as large as the last, but darker and of different design. Instead of the usual fanned crest one might expect from the head of a minotaur, this one displayed a ring and a bright amber eye instead of the usual red. "It's different," he said over comms. "Ori, what can you tell me?"

A few quiet chitters as Schade got closer to it, then the ghost spoke. "It's ancient, but not how you think. I'm picking up interesting readings... You're going to love this, but I think it's from the future. There are materials on this thing that we simply haven't discovered yet."

"Remind me to take a sample," the hunter grinned as he put a few sniper rounds in its core from a small hole in the wall. It returned fire and he rolled to a safer distance, but the view of the third statue caught his eye. "...Safe to assume that thing's gonna pop up once this one goes down."

Meteor had lobbed a grenade at the mind, which was starting to look much worse for wear, and took to punching a hobgoblin to death before it could shoot him. "Hell, I'm up for a party, bring it on now!"

"You say that now," Schade warned with a smile, then moved across the way for a new batch of cover. He was behind the mind now, and just underneath a hobgoblin sniper on the level above him. He'd about had enough of snipers. As soon as it turned, he sprung up over the metallic edge and drove his knife into the robot's core, prying it out with a wet-sounding shatter of glass. He looked over to realize the mind was itchingly close, but distracted enough by Meteor in the distance to not even be looking at the hunter behind it. It was irresistible. With a bit of silent complaint from Ori, Schade dashed forward and hopped directly onto the mind's shoulder, quickly pulling out his knife and sticking it under the thing's skull plating for grip. It roared and spun, trying to no avail with its massive arms to reach the tiny guardian atop its torso. Taking advantage of the machine's own design, he crawled up through the ring on the back of its head and held on, putting his boot inside the curve as he brought out his auto rifle. "Hungry, big guy?" He kicked hard and held the mind's head back, towering over its eye the best he could as he shoved the barrel of his rifle into the lens and held the trigger.

The massive minotaur reeled briefly as its inner cranium was peppered, then toppled forward as its lights flickered out. Its executioner, not to miss a chance for flair, dismounted with a casual hop to the platform waiting just in front of the falling machine. Schade looked to Meteor, who was staring just nearby, and shrugged. Though helmeted, his grin was apparent.

"Nice one!" Meteor laughed loudly with an exaggerated thumbs-up, then pointed at the third statue. "Can ye do it again?"

Schade turned behind him to see stone glowing and splintering away into metal, bits of gold and glassy white coming to life in the form of a third giant minotaur. It turned its vertical blue eye to the hunter and wasted no time in unloading on him, launching multiple void blasts at him as it moved. Schade cursed and took a hurried dismount from his platform, cringing a little as he hit the ground. That got him a bit.

"Y'alright, friend?"

"Yeah," he panted a bit as he shook off some of the mild stun from the blasts getting just a bit too close. "This one's different too... What's its deal, bud?"

Ori buzzed again. "Also ancient. More in the traditional sense this time. Some of the readings I'm getting from this thing imply that it's _ludicrously_ old. Like... Before humanity, old."

Schade heard the roaring of a normal minotaur on the field and remembered how much trouble their ghosts were having with helping them. He could tell Ori was trying to heal off some of the minor damage caused by the mind's cannon, but there wasn't much improvement happening. He glanced to Meteor as the titan joined him behind his cover. "Got more little guys running around... You got enough in you to throw some heavy punches?"

Meteor thought about that. "Think so... Want me to clear 'em out?"

"Nah... I want you to get in a boxing match with that mind."

Lily sputtered. "Are you crazy? Fist of Havoc wouldn't be enough to take that thing out! You confuse me, first you save him, then..."

"Trust me on this," the hunter assured with a little wave of his hand. "I've got a plan, and it doesn't involve any of us dying..."

"Whadya need me to do?" Meteor said with a quirk of his helmet, and his ghost only sighed.

"Stick a grenade to that thing's face, then go ham on its legs and don't stop until it buckles... I've got the rest."

The titan looked at the now slightly damaged hunter, then out to the massing troops of murderous robots, then back to the hunter. "You sure about that?"

Schade stood and flipped his cape, whipping off little pieces of char from the end. "We got this... Go show it who hits harder."

"Alright, then... Ready on my 'nade."

Schade was holstering his rifle and checking the fittings on everything as he walked to the side, looking as though he was about to just walk straight out of cover. "Waiting on you, Thumper."

"Well, fine then!" Meteor chuckled excitedly, then broke cover and put a few hand cannon rounds into the encroaching goblins. He punched his way to line of sight with the mind, then threw a grenade that landed squarely in the center of the giant minotaur's crest. In his peripheral, he could see the flashing of Schade's thrown skip grenade skittering around to the units around them. "Let's go, big fella!" The titan roared as arc light erupted across his armour and his grenade detonated, stunning the giant long enough for him to approach and begin his beatdown.

Schade's form snapped with arc light, then almost instantly disappeared from view. It took only moments for the silent hunter to find the minotaur he was looking for. It was so focused on finding the mind's assailant that it didn't notice Schade flashing brightly into existence and driving an arc blade across its torso, completely bypassing its shields and instantly shattering its core. Electricity danced around the field as he quickly moved from target to target, finding them disintegrating in rapid succession as he sprung around metal and rocks.

Meteor drove a haymaker into the side of the mind's knee, getting the satisfaction of hearing it shatter under the blow. The grenade that detonated on its head had given it a backwards-trending movement, and he saw now that he was trying to get the machine to topple backwards... But it wasn't. It faltered only slightly, then rebalanced itself and looked down at the titan just next to it. It roared once and brought its massive gun down on top of Meteor, who managed to somewhat deflect the attack just to his side, but not without an audible crack coming from his right shoulder. The titan went silent for a moment as the towering machine froze, unable to lift itself back up quickly thanks to the shattered leg. For once, Meteor's happy demeanor switched off like a breaker. He growled once, then gripped the giant's arm with his functional side and drove an electrified knee into its elbow hard enough to explode the casing and its joint, bringing its upper half down a bit. Still gripping with his left arm, the now furious exo rolled over onto his back on top of the mind's arm and kicked upwards with a roar and both boots hard enough to break its arm off at the shoulder and send it careening backwards.

Schade breaks the corner and slashes through a hobgoblin as he spies the mind falling in the distance. He could feel his arc light beginning to fade, but his blades still felt solid enough to kill and his adrenaline was still ramped up at the sight of the giant's core. _"Perfect..." _He dashed forward and sprung off of the gate just under the heart, getting just enough height to get up over the mind and divebomb the core with both blades. A bolt of electricity followed him down, and with a deep and pathetic whine, the mind's core shattered and its platform went limp.

Schade skipped off to the side as his super flickered out with that last blow, finding his feet quickly as the heart pulsed nefariously just above him. "Oh, shit," he winced as the thing started crackling and glowing brightly, sending veins of pure darkness out at odd angles.

Meteor only barely noticed Schade running for cover as the amorphous mass condensed and started to look like it was going to explode. Finally snapping out of fight mode as the area got even brighter, the titan went for the first blockade he could find and ducked behind it.

The air hissed and grumbled as the darkness clawed for just a little more time. Shadowy synapse stretched their best, but couldn't make purchase with reality. The heart condensed further into an unstable, snapping sphere as its power pressured everything around it. It all but screamed as it reached critical mass, becoming blindingly bright until it simply... Disappeared. As though the space had let out a breath, everything echoed into silence as the air cleared and cooled, leaving sparse red petals to drift downward as though previously disturbed.

Schade's vision cleared to find the lighting in the area to seem much healthier, more like it should be. He hadn't noticed just how stained and stale everything had become until it wasn't anymore. He looked over to see Meteor crouched rather awkwardly and holding his arm close to himself. "You alright?"

Meteor said nothing as Lily emerged, scanning his shoulder and fixing it in a jiffy. "...Yep," the titan said as he flexed his arm. "All good! You?"

Schade offered a laugh as he got to his feet. "Not gonna lie, you can get pretty terrifying when you get pissed off."

"Oh! Y'saw that?" He looked a little sheepish, fidgeting with the back of his helmet.

"Damn right I did. I'd hate to cross you in the Crucible," the hunter noted as Ori came out with a flash and healed off what minor injuries he had.

The ghost turned to face where the heart had been, then back to Schade. "The heart's gone, and it's like it took the darkness with it! We have full range of our power back..."

Lily chittered, then looked to him. "We're back on Mars... Are you getting the reports I'm getting...?"

"I am..." He turned to face Schade. "Getting a torrent of confirmations on activity from the Traveler... There's a massive influx of light returning to it. Almost like it was sick," he added as a thought, sounding almost suspicious of something.

"Well, that's great!" Meteor beamed with outstretched arms.

Schade openly chuckled, folding his arms at the titan. "Looks like you've got a nice story to tell once we're back at the Tower."

The titan returned the laugh in kind. "Oh, right I do!" He nodded in agreement, offering a light punch to Schade's arm. "Glad I came in after ye! Ye got some moxie, I'd say! Never seen someone so short do so well in a fight against minotaurs!"

"Hey, I'm _almost_ six feet tall!" Schade defended, grinning broadly.

"Aahhh, fine, I'll give ye that!"

Ori stared as they continued picking on each other... He was smiling. He didn't dare interrupt. It took him several seconds before he noticed Lily watching him.

"Something wrong?" She blinked to him, seeming concerned at first.

"...Years," was his quiet response. "It's taken years, but... This is the first time I've seen him give an honest smile to anyone since the Hellmouth..."

Lily watched the other ghost for a time, then turned to see their guardians. It was true, they both had helmets on, but you can always tell a real smile is there when it shows in the whole body. She reflected back on this same hunter when they had all first met on Mars to defeat the Valus, how he was a perfect, crisp juxtaposition to her own lighthearted guardian. His movements were ghostlike and deadly then, all aimed toward killing as quickly as possible. Now, she was seeing him move more naturally... He looked comfortable. Somehow, she knew it was all Meteor's fault. Whatever terrible thing happened to these two in the past, she found joy in how she and her guardian were helping. She smiled back at Ori to find him still staring, only just now noticing the scratch that ran down the side of his core.

"Yer definitely fun to fight with!" Meteor grinned to the other exo. "I mean, not... I'm not fighting _you,_ in that sense, but..."

"Don't worry, I know what you mean... You're not bad, yourself." Schade had gone to scouring the floor for anything they missed, picking up a small, metallic cube and noting that all the pieces of Vex had disappeared.

Meteor was just idly wandering around the arena, taking in the sights now that they weren't under fire. "Thank ye! We can do this again any time ye like. We make a great team!"

_ Until we don't..._

Kace's voice in the back of Schade's mind was enough to completely pause him.

_ "What happened to you? Do you even see what you've become?"_

_ "....."_

_ "Everyone's gone. Literally everyone. None of the clan wants to stick around and watch you sit in a corner anymore. Look, we're all hurting for what happened down there, but there's a time when you just have to get over it, and that time passed a long time ago."_

_ "....."_

_ "We made a great team once... What happened to that? Or was it ever about the rest of us? Just you and Civil against the world, huh? Now that he's gone, you're just going to sit and rot until your light runs out?"_

_ "....."_

_ "I can't defend you anymore... I never should have to begin with. You want to disappear? Fine. Just sit right here and quit. I'm staying with the clan. I don't care what happens to you anymore."_

_ "....."_

"...You okay, friend?"

Schade was staring off into space. "...Yeah," he said after a moment, seeming a little stale. "Just thinking." He quietly rolled the cube in his hand, staring at it in uneasy silence.

Ori watched as the moment slipped away like a bird in the fog, and his shell drooped. Just like that, and it was gone. He had closed off again. "...The Speaker is calling all guardians back to the Tower," he said suddenly. It wasn't a lie. The message came through at the same time as the news about the Traveler had. He just couldn't hover there and watch this devolve any further. Watching the titan try to understand, or the other ghost think she understands, was bad enough as it was. "Let's go home."

Schade offered a grunt in agreement and pitched the cube off into the abyss. "Can you transmat?"

Ori nodded. "I can get us straight to the ship with no issue."

"Good... Take a scan, and let's get back."

Meteor watched Schade withdraw in every sense of the word, silently crossing his arms over his chest as Lily returned to his side. "...I'll see you there, then?"

"Sure," was the hunter's response. "Just don't wait on me... Not a fan of crowds." With that, he and Ori vanished in a soft ripple of light, transmatted away to their ship.

The titan stood still for a moment, then let out a sigh. "...I said something, di'n I?"

"Probably," Lily buzzed. "But... Something tells me it's not your fault."

"I would hope not... What does that to a guardian?" He looked to his ghost, gesturing in frustration to the empty space where Schade previously stood. "Y'don't normally see 'em this bad..."

"His ghost mentioned something about the Hellmouth, like it was some years ago..."

Meteor reflected for a moment, calling back to some recent memory. "That explains why he left in such a hurry back on the Valus mission... Goddamned Hive," he growled, reflexively pacing a few steps in angry silence.

He didn't often seem angry, but Lily knew him better than most. She knew what angered him, and touching those nerves was simply begging for violence out of him. "...Ready for transmat?" She had to get him moving.

"...Yeh," he said after a breath, then strode back to her side. "We'll find 'em again. Jus' gotta give the guy a little space sometimes, is all."

With that, the two disappeared as the previous had, and the Garden was left in silence once again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. Due to happenings at work, and simply the intensity of it, I had developed quite the nasty case of tendonitis in both hands that left me more or less unable to win a fight with even a twist-top water bottle... Luckily, my hands are so much better, and after pecking at this chapter for the last couple weeks, I was finally able to finish it. Bear with me, as some days are better than others! I will not be abandoning this wonderful story!
> 
> \- This will have been Schade's first time seeing the descendant and precursor Vex. Out of the three minds, he actually finds the last one to be most beautiful.
> 
> \- Schade's withdrawal and brief flashbacks at the end here aren't necessarily caused by something Meteor said, but more by his own sense of self doubt. It comes from his own hardened belief he will fail his fireteam, so the result is to immediately push others back and make himself less desirable to make Meteor leave before he gets hurt.
> 
> \- It is revealed here that Ori has his own fair share of problems, which manifest in this particular scene as being extremely possessive of Schade. They will probably be addressed in the second arc, since this one has enough going on in it.
> 
> \- Seriously, my favourite part of this chapter is how Schade used how small he is to his advantage in killing the Imminent Mind... I think short jokes are going to be a thing now.


	6. Elaphe Schrenkii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even for the most diligent, a reprieve is always needed for the mind. After a conversation from an unexpected source, Schade makes a choice, and time moves on. Ori's knack for information gathering never fails, and the subtleties behind a smiling face are revealed. It is all but a single breath throughout the team, refreshing and needed...

**Elaphe Schrenckii**

“The threat remains...” Eris mumbled only just loud enough for the Vanguard to hear her. She was standing a short ways behind Ikora, staring intently into the glowing orb in her hand. “Your guardians see the threat that lies before us, and yet they stray into the wilds on other tasks?”

Ikora frowned as she turned to face the fell woman. It wasn't an expression of scorn, but rather one that was patient and tired at the same time. “While I took Schade for the type to develop his own methods, I didn't expect him to go off on a completely different tangent... Perhaps once he shows himself again, we can get a proper explanation. He is difficult to control.”

Cayde openly scoffed. “'Control', nothing. You don't _control _a hunter, especially him. Just point him in the right direction and he goes.”

“But he didn't this time.” Lord Shaxx had been standing in their doorway for some time, having been listening to Eris's words while his frame manned the Crucible desk. “You're right, Cayde, but that was unlike him.”

The hunter Vanguard only grunted, tossing a hand briefly before looking back to his tasks.

Zavala was in his usual spot at the end of the table, giving his PDA a short drop to the table before looking up at them in mild frustration. “Be it the Black Garden or the moon or even Saturn's rings, I don't care which, we need our guardians responding where they can. If one hunter can't follow orders, give them to another and move on.”

Ikora looked away from Cayde, who was making a rather thoughtful face at one of his own small screens, and raised a brow at Zavala. “Then if it's alright with you, I'm sending guardians to the Cosmodrome to dig deeper into Hive activity there. If Eris says that's where our dire threat lies, then that's where we need to be.”

“It is the start,” Eris said pointedly. “Guardians alone will not stop the force that is incubating in the depths. We must stop the ritual now, before it's too late.”

“Agreed,” Ikora nodded.

“Fine,” Zavala said dismissively, though his focus was on the warlock. “I'll back your order to comb the ruins of Old Russia. The bounty will be posted, and we'll have Cayde's hunters give us a brief... Where did he go?” He was in the middle of gesturing to the other Vanguard, but his brows sank as soon as he looked up to the hunter's station to find him vanished from sight.

Ikora blinked at the sudden disappearance too, then peered back to see Shaxx leaned up against the doorway with his arms folded over his chest. The massive titan said nothing, only bringing up one arm to thumb casually down the exit hall, apparently having made zero effort to stop the hunter Vanguard from leaving the room.

The office sighed collectively.

Schade tended to his personal vault from the terminal. While most guardians hoarded countless items of weapons, armour pieces, and various other inventories, his vault was filled primarily with information. Between the hundreds of documents and Ori's countless scans uploaded into the system, one might have suspected the server to belong to a warlock on studious pilgrimage. Ori had gathered a hoard of information from their expedition to the Black Garden and he would make a night of it at some point. He looked down to the small piece of the place in his hand, just a simple piece of metal and stone that had broken off of a nearby pillar during the fight. Though he knew it was his own arc blades that had severed the piece, he had other interests in its condition. He figured he would add this to his long-term scans aboard his ship once he could get his head clear.

“I think you did wonderfully,” Ori encouraged quietly from just over his shoulder.

The exo huffed a single, tense laugh. “Yeah?”

“Of course.” The ghost floated to just in his field of view, flickering just a little more brightly. “It wouldn't hurt to do that again sometime. Well, not the whole diving-into-dangerous-Vex-territory bit, but... Definitely teaming up with guardians again. Meteor seems like a good guy.”

“Good until he's not,” Schade mumbled with a quirked brow to the side. He couldn't shake the feeling that lingered in the back of his mind, some eerie shadow of a thought that even Ori couldn't gleam away. He put his stray item back into his pocket and gave a quiet sigh to his ghost. “Look, maybe that titan doesn't mean any harm. Maybe he's just your average sledgehammer looking for a monster to swing at. But what if he's not?” He looked more sharply at his companion, who was trying to be patient. “What if he was sent by someone, just like before? There's definitely more to that guardian than meets the eye, I could tell when things started getting tough out there.”

“I don't think that's the case,” Ori argued softly. “Just watching him out there, both him and his ghost... They don't strike me as the type to carry ulterior motives under the hood. Er, helmet...”

Schade smirked and shut down the vault terminal. “Either way, I'm going to stick with what I know. Everyone wants something, and that something usually involves someone else's misfortune.”

“I thought I taught you better than that.”

Both Schade and Ori flinched at the sudden voice just next to them. Schade let out his breath and resituated himself to look more directly at the hunter Vanguard. “Cayde,” he laughed nervously at his mentor leaning against the corner of the very vault he had been on. “I don't even want to know how the hell you're so stealthy... Actually, I do. Teach me that. It's great.”

“I dunno, I thought I taught you to follow orders, too.” Cayde seemed unamused, an expression that deeply unsettled the younger exo. “Come on, we just talked about this... What happened out there, kid?”

Schade knew he wasn't getting out of this one. The fact that the Vanguard leader was away from his station to confront him about it told him just how badly he'd messed this up. He nervously glanced to Ori, who looked away after a brief pause. Definitely up to him to explain himself. “You, uh... Ever gone somewhere and had a great time, then gone just a little deeper and get your ass handed to you? Like... The kind of beating that sticks with you...?”

Cayde watched him from the shade of the vault, keen to stay out of the open just in case someone decided to drag him back to his station. It was a searching glance that glittered briefly in his eyes, a subtle gesture that was cut off by a small sigh as he reached for his knife from his belt and began idly fiddling with it. “Y'know... I got a thing about dark places,” he explained quietly as he stared at his own knife, idly turning it over in his hand as he spoke. “Bad enough being in small or unfamiliar places, but not knowing what's around you and having something come up and grab you in the dark? Literally _nothing_ scarier. I remember back when I was just a regular guardian like you, before I got stuck to a desk. Ended up having to go down into a particularly dark place on a mission... Really tough having to do that. For me, anyway. Not sure about you... You afraid of the dark?”

Schade didn't miss the look he was suddenly getting from the hunter Vanguard. Despite the pretense, he knew where things were going, and it almost made him smile a little. “...Yeah. Yeah, guess you could say that.” He was staring at a scratch on the vault panel, fiddling with it while his other hand rested on his hip.

Cayde nodded thoughtfully, then sheathed his knife after a moment. “That mission was one of the darkest places I ever faced. Ended up having to do it whether I liked it or not, and it didn't end how I'd hoped it would, but... Want to know what made it easier?” He pushed himself off of the vault and peered between it and Schade, gesturing with a hand to something in the distance. “Had a couple of those with me.”

Glancing down the direction his hand was going, Schade peered all the way across the Tower courtyard and saw a familiar guardian. It was Meteor, helmet off and looking as chipper as he always sounded, giving a polite goodbye to the Eververse store clerk before turning away and departing up the stairs toward Tower North. Schade smiled a bit and turned to face Cayde, only to find him gone. He stepped halfway into the shadow of the vault and saw just the back of the elite hunter's cloak as the exo strode back toward the Vanguard's office.

Ori was hovering just over Schade's head, seeing the last three seconds of the hunter Vanguard as he descended the stairs and returned to his duties. “...So, if you're not going to say hi, I'm going to,” he said to his guardian with a smile to his tone.

Schade couldn't help but give a chuckle. “Sure... I'll catch up.” When he looked up to see Ori's incredulous stare, he folded his arms. “I actually mean it. Go hang out while I get something settled, and I'll be right with you both.”

Ori tilted at him a bit. “Alright, but... Don't you disappear on me. It would do you good to say hello too, you know.”

“I know, I know,” the hunter said wistfully, then started walking toward the Vanguard office.

Ori buzzed in thought, watching Schade move off toward a very aggravated room of professionals before glancing off toward Tower North...

Meteor was in no hurry. He had only approached the special requisitions vendor out of curiosity, and just listening to Lily go on so excitedly about the awoken's wares made him grin.

“And did you see the red shell she had?” The ghost giggled. “I think I'd look great in red! What do you think?”

“If ye want red, I can get ye red,” he smiled with a shrugging gesture. “There're some nice shaders New Monarchy's been hidin' in their vendors. Wouldn't take much to get some.”

Lily blinked at him. “That would involve leaving Future War Cult, and you know how they feel about New Monarchy... Besides, that shell had neat bumpers on it. And lights! The bumpers had lights!”

“Lights make ye easier to see when ye rez me.”

She scoffed. “Hey, I'm not afraid to make myself a target for half a second if it involves looking that good for the rest of the time.” She flitted around him as they entered the more open area near the Speaker's chamber. “Buuuuut, if it makes you feel better, I liked the one that had the long spines on it... They kind of look like whiskers! Ori's looks nice, with those stripes running down the front.”

Meteor shrugged, still smiling. “I s'pose he does look pretty good, but I think ye look fine anyway.”

“Aww, you mean it?”

“Sure!” He gave her a little one-finger nudge as she floated in front of him. “If'n ye want, we can go shell-shoppin' later and see how things look with shaders.”

Lily flickered brighter, excited as though blushing. “Oh, you mean it?”

“Hey guys!”

They both turned around to see Ori approaching from around the far wall. “Well, speak o' the devil!” Meteor grinned with a greeting wave of his hand. “We were just talkin' about ye!”

“All good things, I hope,” Ori said as he hovered close.

“Yeah, it was about your shell,” Lily grinned, then looked at him a bit more closely. “Though I have to admit, it looks different from the ones in the shop now that I'm looking at you... Where did you get that one?”

“Oh, this shell?” Ori fanned out for a moment to see his white and black edges, then shrugged. “I had this before I found Schade. It's usually black with yellow stripes, but it looks different because I let Schade modify it after it got damaged. I told him shells could be replaced, but he insisted on just refurbishing this one with new colours. He said he liked this shell because it looks like it has whiskers...”

Meteor tilted his head at him after glancing around. “Where is he, anyway?”

Ori thought for a moment. It wasn't often that they separated and it hardly meant anything, but even the closest companions needed time to themselves every now and then. “He's catching up on some things with the Vanguard, I think. He'll come looking for me before we go anywhere...” He thought for a moment, withdrawing just a bit. “I'm sorry for how quickly we disappeared on you back in the Garden...”

Meteor was quick to wave him off. “Nah, yer fine!” His aqua eyes stayed bright, dark blue plates trending upwards in a robotic smile. “He looked like he needed outta there anyway. I'da done the same thing if I was a ghost.”

Lily chuckled. “Just the thought of watching you try to figure out how to transmat...”

“I know, I'd turn people inside-out too many times to be comfy,” the titan laughed back, then straightened a bit. “But you two have fun, I'm gonna go check in with the Speaker.”

Ori watched the two for a moment before Meteor walked onward, still seeming very cheerful. “He's really something special, isn't he?”

“Oh, he's something, alright,” Lily chirped.

“I didn't mean that facetiously or anything...”

“I know.” She simply watched her titan walk on without her, her shell-made smile fading just a bit. “He's... Been through a lot.”

Ori shot her a disbelieving look. “He's probably the _happiest_ guardian I think I've ever seen, and considering how long we've been alive...”

“He's happy because he chooses to be, I think. He was like that from the day I found him... He was already joking with me within ten minutes of him finding his feet,” she admitted lightly. “He looks like a brand new guardian, but he's actually been around for a while. He got comfortable pretty quickly and found himself a good fireteam. They...” She paused, wilting just a little. “...They were some good guardians.”

Ori picked up on her tone, watching her closely. “What happened?”

Lily began to float around in thought, Ori following after her. “There were four of them. Two hunters, a warlock, and a titan... All good people. They hadn't been together long, but they were all becoming fast friends. They went out on extended patrol and were out for a few days when they got caught between the Hive and the Fallen... They did their best, but between the knights and the walker, there wasn't much anyone could do.”

“The Fallen sent a _walker_ to deal with the Hive?”

“Yeah, they intended to take down the nest nearby... The fireteam definitely put themselves between a rock and a hard place.” She found herself floating amid the lanterns hanging in the area, bathed in red and green and gold. “The only ones who survived the initial attack were Meteor and the warlock, and he had to carry her away from the fight. Meteor was injured, but wouldn't let me out to help because of the snipers. I was the only ghost to survive that night... And the warlock didn't make it past sunrise.” She turned to face Ori, her blue eye glinting from behind a purple lantern. “Meteor essentially retired for a bit and spent the next few years working with other guardians when they weren't out in the field, deciding to use the experience he had to help those who had been through similar things. He's... He's quite the philanthropist,” she admitted with a small chuckle.

“That's some willpower.” Ori blinked and looked to where the titan had disappeared. “...Then that's why he's sticking so close to Schade. He knows.”

Lily floated down through the lanterns to bring herself closer to the other ghost. “You said something about the Hellmouth earlier... Was your guardian actually down there?”

Ori was staring off into space. “Yeah...”

“Then... That would mean the other guardian who came back wasn't the first. Not that we're competing for a record, though...” She paused long enough to watch the other ghost, her gaze again attracted to the cut that ran across his core. “How did you two get out of there?”

The pale ghost looked away, his shell drawing in just a little more tightly around his core...

“Ah, there you are.” Schade had made his way to the area, stepping under the awning and looking up into the lanterns. “Strange place to find you, but I suppose you kind of blend in with all the lights... Whatcha doin' up there?” He added with a devilish grin and a wiggling of his brow plates.

When Lily openly giggled, Ori's optic narrowed to a tiny dot as he quickly floated down. “Oh, not that! Ghosts don't do that!” Lily only laughed harder.

“Maybe, but you used 'don't' instead of 'can't.' Don't think I didn't notice.”

“Oh my stars, Schade-9...” Ori sighed in frustration, the front of his shell folding in quite a bit as though to hide his core.

Lily glowed at him. “Hi, Schade! How's it going?”

“Not bad,” he said to the ghost as his own took to hovering over his shoulder. “Where's your guardian?”

“Oi!” No sooner had he asked the question did he get an answer from the titan himself, striding up with a bright grin and a brand new titan mark. “There y'are! Find anythin' interestin' about those Vex?”

The hunter only shook his head. “Not even started yet. Had some things to say to the Vanguard... They're not too happy with me at the moment,” he said with a half-smile. He had something in his hand with the Vanguard's emblem on it, fiddling with it in one hand.

“What, did somethin' they didn't like?” Meteor folded his arms and raised a brow.

“Yeah, sort of... We're all good now, though.” He held the small, flat item by one end, revealing it to be a bounty receipt. He flipped it idly like he would a knife, a fidget his ghost recognized every time the exo was nervous. “So, uh... Want to help me kill this Sardon guy?”

Ori blinked and stared at him.

“Sure!” Meteor was quick to jump on the chance. “Where we goin'?”

“Cosmodrome,” Schade said as he flipped the little bar one more time and put it in his pocket, then shifted his weight to leave. “Big Hive fella out there the Vanguard wants gone. Heading out tomorrow evening... Figured you'd want to join me.”

“Heck yeah, I do! I'll take any chance to go crunch some Hive skulls!” He flexed his shoulders and started to walk, following the hunter out of the area. “Oh, Speaker gave me a new mark! Like it?”

Schade glanced over to see as the walked, giving it a nod. “Season of Ages XII... Nice.”

“Oh, you've seen it before?”

“I traveled with a titan for years...”

The two moved down the hall, idly chatting, and Ori simply stared. He did it... He actually approached another guardian and asked him to join him. It took Lily floating up to him for him to remember where he was. He looked at her, beamed a smile, and turned to race after his guardian.

Cayde tapped idly at his screen, going through countless field reports sent in from his hunters across the system. On one hand, he was proud of how diligent his scouts were being, but he silently wished that he would have nothing to check for just ten minutes. He had long since tuned out the various comments being thrown about the room between the other members of the Vanguard. It was likely Ikora and Zavala arguing about some thing or another anyway. He could listen in nearly any time of day and hear it later. His attention piqued briefly and he found himself reaching up to catch something that was thrown at him, looking up a microsecond later to see he now had a book in his hand. “Need something, Ikora?” He grinned.

“Just an answer,” she said simply. “I guess you were off in your own world, after all.”

“Ah, yeah, my bad.” He slid the book across the table back to Ikora, nodding his head up a bit. “What were we talkin' about?”

Ikora smiled, but shook her head. Zavala answered in her stead. “We are opening bounties on the Cosmodrome and need your hunters to give us intel around the area. If you can spare them, send your scouts across the area and see what they find.”

“Will do,” Cayde said as he returned to his datapads yet again. He mumbled idly to himself as he flicked through various screens. “Let's see... This guy's good, this gal's on Mars, Tevis is too busy... Deeeeefinitely delete this bit...”

Ikora tilted her head at his tone. “Cayde, I should remind you that those datapads are for Vanguard purposes only...”

“What? No,_ no_nono,” he defended with a rapid waving of his hand. “It's the conversation I had with the kid while he was in the Black Garden. Don't know why the pad saved it... Why not, since I swear that's the first time I've totally nailed a comms point with guardians messing with Vex gates.” He hovered his finger over the data file before deleting it, staring at it for a moment. He had the strangest feeling of _déjà vu_, but in the odd manner that it was in reverse, if that made any sense. It was as though he was looking at something that hadn't happened at all, yet still recognizing it. He was suddenly quite confused over the mysterious file before him now. “...Did he sound a little off to you guys?”

Ikora turned from Eris to give him a look. “You two were so quiet over there, it was difficult to hear what was being said over what we were doing over here.”

“Okay, must've been just me,” he shrugged dismissively. Did he actually have this conversation? Of course he did, the file is right there. He remembers now. Schade had sounded completely exhausted, speaking as though he had already been through hell and back. He had sounded very surprised to hear his Vanguard and quietly laughed at the Vex for making things so complicated. Cayde could remember talking to him for a couple minutes, and the only reason that memory stood out to him was how... Forlorn the younger exo had sounded. It was as though whatever he had encountered in that Garden had aged him, run him down to the bolts, and simply hearing his voice was enough to bring him the hope he needed to survive... Did he truly have that conversation? Schade had seemed just fine when he found him in the courtyard.

“Do you have the manpower?” Zavala broke his train of thought with a look that advertised how little patience he had left for today.

Cayde looked up to the titan and raised a browplate. “Oh yeah, I got plenty. Who're you talking to, friendo? You act like I don't got this, or something.” He ignored any further comment from the titan Vanguard and selected a small group on his datapad, forwarding messages to them as though he already had pre-written orders for various occasions. “See? Done. They'll probably be making snow angels in Old Russia by nightfall.”

“Let's hope they'll be doing more than that,” Zavala said as he tiredly returned to his own tasks.

Ikora smirked at him, then turned back to speaking idly with Eris just behind her.

Everything was moving again, and that was enough to make Cayde comfortable. He looked back down to his datapad with a poker face. The recording was still there. His thoughts tumbled only briefly before he selected the audio file and sent it to his personal system...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- After initially writing this chapter, I had realized it was astoundingly short... I didn't like it. It was necessary to write in all this dialogue, but the whole event was so short, I had to go back in and fluff it. Originally, it was going to be thrown in with another chapter, but doing that would have left that chapter in scene-jumping chaos. Very choppy. It still stands as my shortest chapter, but not as short as it could have been. I guess taking the time to look back on something really changes things, huh...?
> 
> \- I'm not sure if Cayde-6 is actually afraid of the dark, but his reference here was actually a metaphor, in a way. It could be that he was talking about the day he lost Andal Brask, but he could also have meant the helpful conversation literally as well. Admittedly, losing Andal was a very dark time in his life. Either way, he can find another way of sympathizing with Schade due to the fact that they both have lingering traumas in their pasts.
> 
> \- I just want to say, I imagined just the prettiest image of Ori and Lily talking amid all those softly glowing paper lanterns and that whole bit made me feel warm and fuzzy, even if Ori's own issues started showing for a second there.


	7. Berserker's Blade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What starts as a chance becomes an intrusion, and the intrusion births the beginning of a truth. There are times when mistakes lead to success, even if the reward is hidden behind layers of discomfort. Will the peeling away of the veils of reveal a long-lost sense of camaraderie? Or will the new vision release only more mysteries?

**Berserker's Blade**

Stars glittered overhead. The familiar aurorae danced across the sky, casting strange lights and shadows through the sparse clouds upon the world below. Ancient ruins of once-perfect skyscrapers loomed like sick sentinels over a landscape of rusted vehicles and horridly bent once-signposts. Everything slept under a thick blanket of shimmering snow, its perfectly white surface interrupted only by the footprints of unsleeping things that walked on talons. Night in the Cosmodrome was unforgivingly cold and underestimating it would lead to more than one type of death, either at the hands of Russia's frigid winter or the claws of the invading Fallen.

A dreg skulked around a shipping container, peering here and there with his shock pistol in one relaxed hand. He wasn't ready for combat. It had been silent for hours, and in his inexperience, he was comfortable roaming the icy landscape with the two other dregs with him. They chittered back and forth about what they find, some unimportant thing or another, and move on with only feigned interest in their surroundings. The first, after spying something moving in the ruins of a nearby car, moves away from the container and into the open... His mistake.

A shrieking white plume of mist replaced his head as it suddenly ceased to exist, and the report of the rifle that took it followed almost immediately after. The other two dregs went stumbling away from him, one of which toppled after a second shot ripped a glowing hole through his chest. The echo of the shot bloomed across the landscape, dying quickly through the snow and broken buildings.

The worn Eirene RR4 glinted softly in the moonlight, its now warm barrel tracing up to Schade's steady hand as he pulled his head back from the scope. "...Anyone know any translations for Eliksni?" He squinted briefly at nothing, smirking a bit behind his helmet.

"I'm not _ entirely _ sure," Meteor said from just next to him on the slope. "I'm pretty sure it was 'oh shit,' but it could have just as easily been 'oh fuck' as well. At least, that's what I think all those barks mean..."

Trish snickered from just near Meteor's shoulder, having been lying on her back with her arms behind her head. "You hate Fallen, I can tell..."

Schade got up from the snow, shaking his head a bit as he slung his rifle. "It's not just barks, you know..."

"Yer right, it's got a bunch o' clicks and hisses, too."

The three moved with cover even after the shots were fired. Meteor moved with striking silence between the two hunters, maneuvering well in the shadows as he followed the red hawk on the back of Schade's cloak, the only thing easily seen from this distance in the snowy dark. Schade was practically a phantom otherwise, moving with a purpose and grace that insinuated he practically lived in the Cosmodrome.

"I'm glad you joined us, Trish!" Meteor said quietly, but the excitement in his tone was evident. "Been a while since we seen ye. Figured you were on Mars, or somethin'."

The human only shrugged. "Eh, gives me a chance to go pop some Fallen domes... When you said we were hunting Hive, that only sweetened the deal."

"Speaking of which," Schade said as he came to a crouch behind a crate, the other two falling in just behind him. "There's the start..."

Just ahead in the direction the exo gestured, a group of acolytes wandered in silence around the corners of the buildings. Surrounding them was a group of thrall, some of which were seen chewing on the bones of some thing or another. One had what appeared to be the reimains of a dreg, gnawing hungrily on one of the plates it had ripped off of its arm. They weren't like the dregs they had seen earlier. Perhaps warned by the sound of sniper fire, the lot of them were alert and silent, weapons ready for any conflict.

Trish shuddered briefly. "Gross," she whispered over comms. "They don't eat the meat..."

"No, they tear the meat away to get to the bones." Schade's voice was nearly at a whisper, tense even at a distance. "Armoured guardians are usually too much trouble to get at, but the Fallen don't wear armour as much as they have their exoskeletons to protect them. Most of what they wear is leather and cloth. Dregs get the worst of it."

"Poor little guys," Trish said wistfully from behind him, which garnered a silent but very telling look of absolute _ scorn _ from Meteor. "...Wait, so you're telling me the Fallen run around scantily clad? You actually look that closely at them?"

"Ew..."

"I do, but not for that reason," Schade frowned back at them, only momentarily taking his eyes off the Hive ahead. "They're pretty well covered here in the Cosmodrome and on Luna, but if you track them down anywhere else, you can see they mostly don't care about covering up their exoskeletons. They're pretty tough, regardless."

Trish grinned a bit. "You're a lot more talkative this time around. You get your beauty sleep?"

Schade only offered a small growl before he began to strafe in silence around the Hive, moving to a better angle while his fireteam followed. Ori knew he was only talking because he was nervous. Finding distraction in anything, even if it's his knowledge about something completely unrelated to the task at hand. His faithful ghost chirped briefly in his head before actively moving to the shared comms. "I'm reading a directional beacon where the reports sent to the Vanguard say Sardon is hiding," he explained to all three of them. "Looks like the scouts have done well tracking him down."

"I can always give ye hunters that," Meteor smiled quietly to his fireteam. "Always watchin' everything and letting us know where to hurt 'em best."

Trish followed close behind as Schade led them around a building and through an overgrown alley. "Cayde's elite trackers are in a class all their own... They're like phantoms. I heard he's even got some void hunters hiding in the ranks."

"Sounds like I've got some calls to make."

Meteor grinned to Schade. "You did say you were tryin' ta use void light, didn'cha?"

"Eventually."

"You've definitely got the disposition for it," Trish added. "They're a creepy bunch."

Schade had just broken out of the alley with them and into a more open area, shoulders going back as he turned a squint in her direction. "I'm _creepy?"_

Their ghosts chuckled at the lot of them, then Lily chimed in. "Head straight. There's movement up ahead, but it's not much. Some Fallen in the area, by the sounds of it."

As they crept closer, they could hear the sounds of trading gunfire between Fallen and Hive, both sides warring for the same open field of debris. "Oh, this place," Schade nodded as he cleared a corner and spied skirmish amid the broken and empty pipes. It was more or less a crater, caused by ancient mortars that detonated gas mains below the soil. "I remember fighting a spider tank here once..."

Ori keyed into Tower comms, briefly chittering a lightspeed passcode greeting to the computers before speaking. "Fireteam Exterminators to Vanguard, we've reached our location and going live. Beacons are set and we're moving in."

"Copy that, Exterminators," came the voice of Commander Zavala through the comms. "Permission to engage granted. Proceed with extreme prejudice. You are the only guardians in the area... Shoot to kill."

Trish locked the wheel in place on her hand cannon. "Now that's an order I can get behind..."

Ori continued. "Anything we should be aware of?"

"The Fallen are being pushed out of the area," Zavala continued. "This was expected, but developing further. I am handing over mission status reports to Eris Morn. She will guide you with intel on the Hive per your engagement."

The familiar, haunting voice of the fell woman in the Tower slipped into their helmets. "Sardon commands the Hive spawn on Earth. Search the Grotto, find this monster, and see to his end."

"10-4," Schade replied with a quiet rack of his sidearm, then started to move with the others in his shadow. The Fallen tried their best to fend off the encroaching Hive, and for the most part seemed to be succeeding. Aside from the various dregs and vandals, there were two servitors on the field that were readily lobbing heavy blobs of plasma at every acolyte they saw. Schade paused momentarily, then looked back to the others with an odd tilt of his head. "Am I _really_ that creepy–?"

Any response was cut off by the air being rent by Hive magicks, dark greenish portals that opened to eject Hive dropships from the blackness. More Hive had just arrived, and the Fallen instinctively backpedaled for cover. Brackish mist formed and a small army of thrall fell from the ship, along with a new detachment of acolytes. A knight dropped immediately after, hitting the ground with an authoritative thud before raising its own cannon toward the fight.

"Oh, wonderful," Meteor said as he eyed the turning tide. "They got a boomer knight."

"Then that's our first target," Schade interjected as he surveyed the now dominant force on the field. "Neutralize that knight so we don't get splash damage, then go for the thrall. They'll come to you, so make sure you're ready. If the Fallen give you a problem, start with their servitor and work your way down the guns. Keep your head on a swivel for snipers and make sure your ghosts are covered."

Trish angled her way to Schade's side, still low and quiet. They hadn't been spotted yet. "Two more knights off behind those crates there, just saw them walk in."

"Prioritize them with the boomer, just remember to guard your ghosts. They look at them like candy..."

"The Fallen are fallin' back," Meteor said as he crouch-walked to Schade's other side. "Should we go after 'em?"

Schade shook his head. "We're here for Sardon. If the Fallen want to retreat, let them. If not, then that's their decision. The Hive are our main targets until any other entity out here starts feeling pluckier than them... Let's move."

The three took to a ready stance and moved forward as one, and the comms were silent...

The Fallen were backed into a corner, literally and figuratively. A vandal crouched behind cover with two dregs as their servitor began to fail before the knight's cannonfire. He hissed and barked a few commands to the dregs and they reloaded their meager weapons, ready to fight even though the Hive now greatly outnumbered them. The vandal called out over comms to the rest of his forces, but none seemed to respond. One of his dregs shrieked and he turned to see a group of thrall overtaking them, instinctively opening fire on them in hopes of saving himself and his last dreg... They were far too numerous. He and the dreg may have killed a couple of them, but they were forced out of cover and the dreg was easily overtaken. The vandal cursed in his native tongue and jogged backwards, managing to kill two more thrall before the last one pounced him. It was all he could do to put a few rounds into the thrall's head, but his leg was gored. He dragged himself out from under the thrall and heard the roar of an approaching knight. Another curse, and he reached for another charge for his now empty weapon... There was none. He locked eyes with the knight as the giant approached him, scrambling back the best he could with a bum leg. It was faster at a walking pace. With no weapon but a small knife, the vandal prepared for a fighting death with a snarl at the knight as it raised its heavy cannon to bring it down on him.

Auto rifle fire suddenly peppered the knight's helmet, sending sparks everywhere as the massive alien staggered backwards. A flaming knife flicked forward and stuck itself firmly into the knight's throat, and the beast went down with its claws clamped around its throat.

Three guardians sprung from the outskirts, all sparks and fire and gamechanging determination, and the Hive swiveled to see them. Another knight fell to combined fire, and they were now the main targets. They had everything's attention.

"I forgot how bad they smell when they're on fire!" Meteor laughed as he threw a flashing arc grenade into a group of charging thrall.

Trish scoffed over comms as she threw a second knife into an acolyte. "You get used to it, you big baby... And what about your atmosphere seal on your helmet? I'd be more worried about that, if I were you!"

"Y'know, I should prob'ly fix that..."

Schade slipped in and out of the shadows like a panther, rapid and silent until he struck for a kill. With the smoothe, dynamic flow of combat swirling around him, it was easy to let his anxiety slip to the wayside as he dispatched a few screaming thrall with his sidearm. These died quickly, and everything moved on. It was nothing like the Hellmouth... He could do this easily.

"Eyes on that third knight?" Trish asked eagerly once she had disengaged from a small group of thrall with an acolyte.

Meteor had just crunched in the face of an acolyte that had dared to attack him. "Not seein' it... Fallen are gone now, though."

Schade snorted. "I think your secondary title is 'collateral support titan'..." A sound caught his ear beyond Meteor's laugh, and he turned to find the source. Scanning past a small group of scattering acolytes, he could see the last knight seeking cover from the new threat behind a small building up some stairs. "Got the knight," he said as he strafed through snowy shadows, practically disappearing in the dark.

"Go get 'em, boss man." Trish was already engaging the remaining thrall while Meteor dealt with more acolytes. "Your plan worked, but I was expecting snipers... Kind of boring."

Meteor pulled a shotgun to the last two acolytes before him and blasted them into oblivion. "Eh, I'm grateful," he shrugged, then strafed to move around a blown-out wall. "Not a fan of snipers... Oi, I see yer knight!" He could see the massive figure at the top of the stairs, but a strange, flowing movement on the other side of the structure there caught his attention. It was now he noticed his nerves and how alight they were with a new danger present on the field.

"Front row seating?" Schade actually smiled at the comment, drawing up to the knight as it turned its cannon to face him. He was still just down the stairs from it, low and slinky. Hard to hit. He spun out of the way of a cannon blast, smirking as it hid itself behind cover. "Oh, you fucking coward," he growled quietly, then retrieved his own shotgun and charged after it.

Meteor bristled at what he saw, all humour leaving him. "Wait, disengage!"

It was too late. By the time Schade was adjusting for an abrupt change of direction after Meteor's shout, he was already at the knight on top of the stairs... And the entity that hovered just near it. He looked up to the ancient and highly decorated Hive wizard, and even though he was already pulling away at Meteor's warning, the hellish cadence of the demon's screams shredded through his sensibility, burning his skull. Ori shouted at him in the back of his mind, but he couldn't tell what he was saying. Though he still backed away, his movements were slow and uneven, gaze locked on hers. He couldn't seem to pull the trigger. She was peering down at him with a predator's gaze, devilish familiarity burning into the depths of his soul at the sight.

"Schade, _MOVE!_"

The growl in Ori's voice snapped him out of it. He had seen the nightmare's eyes flick upwards from his, peering directly at his now visible ghost just above him as the tiny machine fearlessly glowered at the ancient being. When she moved toward his soft glow just a fraction of an inch, it was enough to evoke a violent response from the hunter. Schade met her lunge with a faster strike of his own, his old Captain's knife slashing against her claws with an ear-itching sound a fraction of a second before he detached from the engagement.

She wailed horridly and lunged again, but was met broadside with the full force of an enraged titan's shoulder charge. Meteor was all over her the instant Schade drew too near, but it seemed she didn't care for the larger guardian's force. Without much effort, she whirled in the titan's direction and spawned a sphere of dark, choking haze around them, bringing Meteor to pace a quick retreat.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Trish called from further down the way, already loading her pulse rifle as she hopped to another bit of cover.

"Hive wizard, but I've never seen one like this," Meteor coughed once as he put some distance between them. It wasn't difficult to get away from the monstrosity as her gaze was glued elsewhere. "Schade, it's _awfully_ interested in you..."

Her glowing eyes loomed in the black cloud of noxious fog like lanterns in the dark, then she rose from the fetid field and glared out at the last place Schade was seen. Her eyes searched like those belonging to a bird of prey looking for a snake in the grass, hungry and glittering... And entertained. A terrible sound gurgled up from somewhere at her core, evolving into shrill, echoing laughter that pierced the air around them. The sound had left them colder than the Cosmodrome winter ever could. With a flare of green and black swirls, she seemed to fold in on herself and disappear completely in the snowy dark, the ensuing silence hanging palpably in the deathly still air. For a moment, nothing dared to move after.

Meteor resituated himself, pacing around uncomfortably in the soundless snow. "Schade, you alright, friend?"

"Where'd he go?" Trish scanned the dimly glittering snow for his bootprints, but couldn't find even those. It was like he had disappeared completely after disengaging.

The scream played merry hell with his mind. He pressed himself tightly against the wall of the ancient apartment building, cloaked in shadow as light flickered across his somewhat quivering knife blade. It was still drawn, and he was still more than ready to use it. He was as much disoriented as he was completely alarmed, still prepared to attack whatever drew near. A grounding light formed in front of him and he realized Ori was speaking to him.

"Schade, eyes up. Get your wits about you." He wasn't even looking around him, just to his guardian. He was as calm as ever. "Everything left... There's nothing here."

Schade stared at him for a mere moment before he just reached up and grabbed him with his free hand. "What were you thinking?" His hushed voice was tense and his hand shook. "What the _fuck_ where you thinking? She could have grabbed you!"

Ori just let himself be held. "It was the only way I was going to get you moving," he explained rather firmly.

Schade breathed a tense curse as he finally started to drift out of combat mode.

"If I hadn't shown myself, Traveler knows what she would have done to you..."

"You and I both know who that was." The words dropped in the snow, and silence followed. His tone was both confident and searching at the same time. "We've seen that wizard before. Those horns, those eyes... God, those _whispers..."_

"Pull yourself together," Ori distracted as he flexed his shell a bit to free himself from Schade's hand and float up to his eye level. "She's gone, and everything left with her."

"Schade, you alright, friend?" Meteor's voice came through his helmet loud and clear. They had no idea where he was.

Ori blinked at him. "We'll have time to figure this out once we're in orbit... We have to keep moving."

He brought himself back in and looked around, finding himself on a raised bit of stone support, somehow having left no footprints whatsoever. The thought occurred to him that the others might think he abandoned them. He let out a bit of a sigh, still not sounding any less tense, and finally sheathed his dagger. "Search the archives," he said to Ori as they finally moved to rejoin the others. "Find out everything we can about that screaming banshee and what she can do..."

Ori buzzed briefly. "I've got tabs on records about the Hive and its wizard units, and a few notations about their Sword Logic as well. Just to be on the safe side."

Schade nodded and dropped down off of an edge into the snow, now out in the open. "Save those. We'll comb them once we're out of here."

Meteor turned and visibly relaxed as soon as he saw the other exo. "Ah, there y'are. Everythin' alright?"

Schade smirked behind his helmet. "Minor setback... That unit had some kind of ability," he explained rather distantly. "Should she appear again, I recommend _not_ making eye contact..."

Trish tilted her head, her own helmet obscuring her expression. "No shit? I mean, it seemed pretty obvious for how piss-scared you looked."

"I will fucking _bury_ you in a snowdrift," came Schade's swift and oddly calm reply as he simply continued walking after the marker displayed on his visor's compass.

"Duly noted. On both accounts." Meteor nodded with a quick pace to follow. "Heh, I'll bring a shovel next time..."

Trish, however, only grumbled. "Creepy, brooding exo and happy-go-lucky exo... I wonder where the programming developed its diversity?" She ducked down to avoid a loose cable as they entered a bit of old building ruins. "Is that a reset-related thing? Or did you guys' insanity come naturally upon resurrection?"

Schade offered a restrained chuckle. "Forget the shovel, she's digging down just fine..."

Ori decided to break the pattern and ping the Vanguard. "We're clear of imminent threat... Eris, what can you tell us about our target? Anything more?"

"Sardon is the first of Crota's disciples," she explained at length through their helmets. "His army helped shatter the moon and claim it for his master. His presence here is a sign... The Hive are preparing to wake Crota's soul."

"Soooo... Crota's dead?" Meteor questioned.

"No, necromancy is forbidden among the Hive." Eris's head shake could almost be heard.

"The idea that their leader is currently soulless is a fact not lost on me," came Schade's response, then he snapped his rifle up to something in front of them as they entered a clearing.

Three acolytes were on their knees in the snow, enthralled in worship. They were completely unaware of the guardians approaching them, so near and staring at them down loaded guns. They merely knelt in silence with their weapons held up as offerings, all ringed around a single point of glowing green fire above them.

Trish took advantage of the moment to strafe around them. "They're dead to the world... You could probably touch them and they wouldn't even know you're there."

Schade bristled and racked his rifle. "Oh, I'll reach out and touch them, alright..."

"Trish, you know anything about the Hive?" Meteor queried quietly as he moved in the opposite direction as her, effectively surrounding the acolytes.

The solar hunter only scoffed. "Other than the fact that they're some creepy old shits, no. Eliksni are my specialty."

"Eliksni?" The titan repeated.

Trish shrugged. "Fallen. They're actually called Eliksni, but no one seems to know that..."

"Fantastic news, now let's deal with these guys," Schade said impatiently as he took a single step forward and simply executed the nearest acolyte with his rifle.

Meteor was quick to follow up with a shotgun blast to the second, and Trish cursed and rammed one of her knives into the back of the last acolyte's skull. "We just killed a bunch of worshipers," she said with a disappointed shrug.

Schade was undeterred. "Then I'll gladly be the devil to their hell."

"Incoming," Meteor warned as he pointed his shotgun to the glowing sphere of green fire, which was now growing with intensity.

What dropped out of the flame was a knight, already enraged and glowing with arc shields. As if the added defense wasn't bad enough, the monster brandished a sword in his right hand. It was a massive cleaver with an edge meant to crush and tear before it cuts. He roared angrily, then charged at the first guardian he saw. Trish had been entirely too close to the summoning fire and just couldn't get away fast enough, losing the function of her leg in one of the cleaver's mighty swings.

Schade openly growled as he opened fire on the knight's head. "What part of 'incoming' didn't you get, girl?"

Despite herself, Trish managed to roll away from the knight as its attention turned to the two exos. The brief burst of adrenaline allowed her that much. "I dunno," she panted as her ghost came out to heal her. "Maybe the fact that a _giant Hive monster_ just came out of nowhere with a _damn sword,_ and it just happens to be _really fast_ to boot..."

Meteor managed to sidestep the knight as it swung its weapon downward at him, giving him the opportunity to plant a couple shotgun bursts in its chest. "Oh, it's not that fast!"

Trish sputtered, now on her feet and taking aim at the knight. "I can't believe I'm being told by a titan that something's not that fast..."

"Oh, we can get pretty fast!"

Schade was up on top of a half-ruined embankment, collectively poking holes in the knight's helmet. His crosshairs were steady, just as they had been when he was sniping dregs from a quarter-mile mark. As he put one last bullet in the unit's skull before it collapsed to the ground, he let his thoughts roll through his mind. What had stopped him before? Was it genuine fear? Or had that wizard done something to him? Why was it so easy now to kill them?

_ It could be that you're actually comfortable with these two._

He managed a dismissive smile at Ori's shared thought as he dismounted the small structure. The other two had already closed in on the knight's body. "That was almost disappointing," he said with a tilt of his head, shouldering his rifle.

Trish retrieved a knife from the body, checking the edge to make sure her throw was still good. "I mean, you perched up pretty quick... You still scared of these things, or something?" She looked to her fellow hunter to find him glaring at her. She hadn't realized how deep the little comment had dug at him until she saw his free hand had balled into a fist, and that alone gave her pause...

"He's kitted for range," Meteor interjected before Schade could. He was knelt down by the knight, inspecting the blade it left behind. "It'd be kind of dumb if he stayed in close quarters. Besides... Leaves more for me!" He rose to his feet, now clutching the sword in his own hands. He looked at the heavy edge with a hungry gaze, tilting it a bit to watch the light play off of its surface. "Daddy wants to play..."

Schade detached from the staredown after the comment, scoffing at the titan. "Don't call yourself 'daddy,' I swear," he grumbled as he moved onward, leaving the two to follow him down a ledge further into the ruins.

Trish tilted her jaw momentarily, then hopped down after them. Her ghost chimed into her helmet, speaking only to her. _You need to watch that guardian,_ he warned. _I could feel his ghost pinging me... He had you targeted for a second there._

_ Yeah, felt like the Crucible all over again..._

_ Seems like he's got a temper to him... Unusual, for an arc hunter._

Trish was going to continue the conversation, but watching the two ahead of her suddenly tense up to the sound of thrall effectively derailed her. A lot of thrall. She yanked out her hand cannon with a tense curse, peering around the enclosed area for cover. "I think they're a little angry with us!"

"They're Hive," Schade growled as he backpedaled a bit, spotting the acolytes that trotted in after the thrall. "They're _always_ angry."

Meteor, however, was doing nothing but charging forward. "Then I guess it's time to put 'em to bed!" The titan raised the sword, then brought it crashing down amid a cluster of thrall. The small shockwave that came from the blade was enough to smite four of them in the immediate area, sending the rest skittering around in shock. There was no pause between this strike and the next, with Meteor eagerly slashing at any Hive that drew too near.

Schade loaded his auto rifle. "Hey bud? What, uh... What can you tell me about that sword in the big boy's hands...?"

Ori did his best to scan from where Schade was behind a shipping crate, minding just where Meteor was while he meleed everything. "...Well, if you're tense for why I think you are, then you're right. That weapon strengthen's the wielder's combat resolve, but it looks like it also _eats Light."_ The ghost chittered nervously. "Let's just hope he's strong enough to handle it..."

"We got this!" Lily chimed in through their helmets. "I got tabs on his Light... He's having fun anyway."

"Damn right, I am!" Meteor growled giddily as he jumped high, then brought the blade crashing down amid the next approaching group. The strike landed with such force, arc light pulsed and shot across the ground in a rippling trajectory before him, effectively wiping out anything in front of him for a couple dozen feet. Meteor's only response was to laugh.

"...Yeah, let's get that away from him soon," Trish said as she stood on top of a crate and watched him lunge from target to target with reckless abandon. Though when she turned to see Schade making himself comfortable on his own crate, she fumed. "Are you seriously just gonna plop down and watch right now?!"

Schade had propped up his arm on one knee, letting his other leg dangle down over the edge. He looked relaxed, despite the situation. "I know what that feels like," he said with a loose gesture of his hand to the titan. "I'm not about to interrupt... He'll pass out before it goes too far anyway. Not like you want to get in front of that."

_ "Seriously?!"_ Trish balked at him.

Meteor took out an acolyte and two thrall with a single swipe of the blade, but didn't even wait for the bodies to hit the ground before he lunged for another set. It was _exhilarating._ The blade practically carried itself, but it seemed to be getting less steady. Another knight appeared from around the corner and he decided that would be his next target. He sprung forward and drove the blade crossways into the knight's midsection, hearing so many things break and splinter from the blow. He saw the knight try to get up and struck it again, this time feeling its vitals drop into nothing. He stood with nothing left to strike, and the blade began to spark and destabilize. He watched the now jagged edge splinter further and crumble away. Overfed with Light, the sword crackled and detonated, leaving Meteor empty-handed and just now noticing how out of breath he was. "Well, damn," he huffed, then reached for his hand cannon at his belt. He must have been slightly lightheaded, because he staggered a bit. He realized he was wobbling when he felt someone briefly support him at his back.

"Have fun?" Schade said as he released the back of his armour to move just ahead of him.

Trish was right there as well, giving the titan a funny look. "You okay?"

Meteor nodded, finally getting his bearings right. "Yep, just fine... Right, Lily?"

His ghost chirped affirmatively. "No damage whatsoever, just a little low on Light... It'll come back just fine. Just do what you normally do, big guy."

Schade glanced back at them briefly. "It's like being drunk, I know... I'll take point," he said with a tip of his auto rifle, then turned to walk his way further in.

Trish smirked, unamused. "Thought you said he was kitted for range...?"

"He is," Meteor said as he started to move forward. "Not sure which of us is dumb by this point, then." With his balance returned, he shook his head with a chuckle and jogged after Schade.

The three of them were descending into a tunnel laced with Hive creep and glowing green crystals. Despite the freezing cold, moths flitted around the ghostly lights that illuminated chitin and sickly fronds. Without the Hive crystals, there would be no light down here.

Ori pinged the Tower again. "Moving further in. Getting some interesting readings now that we've passed what the scouts have mapped down here... It's all uncharted and dark from here on out. Not even hearing any thrall down here..."

"I survived for years in the tunnels under the Moon, using the shadows as the Hive do," Eris explained through their helmets. "They can meld with the rot in the caverns, unseen until they are on top of you... Keep your eyes open."

"Roger that," Schade said with a quieter tone as they approached a more open cavern. The light from the place was only faintly brighter, lit by not only the crystals around the room, but by the crawling Hive magicks as well. Green plasma calmly and silently slithered on various surfaces, following cracks and dents and disappearing unevenly... It made him feel crawly and beyond uncomfortable, bringing back the memory of a hallucination, recalling the the baleful manifestation of his brother tainted by the Hive.

The guardians took another step in and all at once did their ghosts react. Lily tensed in the back of Meteor's mind and Ori buzzed unhappily. Tigger audibly shuddered over comms.

"This is it," Schade said quietly as he readied and peered around the room. "Nobody die down here... Try not to get hit. Your ghost works twice as hard with this kind of environment."

Trish readied and moved between the two exos, feeling Tigger's worry as her own. "You boys seen this before, I take it?"

Meteor was bristling, sighting warily down his hand cannon at the empty room. "Yep... Healin's bad enough, rezzin' is impossible." He paused for a moment, silence hanging around them like a veil. "Whatever's down here is ugly..."

"If that's what it's got you calling it, then I'll take it a bit more seriously." Never one to doubt a titan's battle senses, Schade quietly checked his weapons while he skulked forward.

Trish kept herself low, having switched to a submachine gun for close quarters. She glanced around the rocks as they moved through the deathly silence and saw another source of light. She closed in on a ball of green soulfire that hovered in a wide pit, sighting it like an enemy. "Didn't that sword knight drop out of one of those?" She indicated with her chin to the target, glancing to the others for just a moment from her place on the ledge. Nothing felt right here.

Meteor was on the same level as the ball, also treating it like a target. Despite his size, he was rather silent in stalking the object. He was within shotgun range of the pinching, wrinkling flame, staring at it as though trying to judge its depth like it was a pit.

"Not so close, big guy," Schade warned.

The titan stared for some time at the thing, still silently contemplating it. "...It's not doin' anythin'–" The moment he spoke, the fire reacted. The room suddenly became opressive and toxic, choking. An unseen pulse of energy radiated from the point and their shields ruptured, and Meteor retreated from the object with a strangled curse under his breath. "Gotta get this helmet fixed..."

"It's not just you," Trish said tensely as even she began to cough. "T-that's something else... It's not air, it's energy!"

Schade grimaced from the sensation of acid in the atmosphere, forcing himself to focus on the massive _thing_ that manifested from the soulfire. It was Sardon. "Meteor, you best back up, titan," he said as he readied a grenade. "That's a big sword, and an even bigger knight holding it..."

As Schade uttered the warning, Meteor suddenly swiveled and opened fire on something else. "Got more company!"

Trish whirled as well, taking her eyes from the massive knight and sighting the small army of thrall and acolytes. "That's a _lot_ more company!"

Schade offered a tense sigh, Ori mechanically doing the same. "It's the fucking Hive, _of course_ there's more..."

The thrall charged mindlessly, streaming up the ramps in small groups. Trish was quick to pop a few skulls, a sharp shooter even in the distractingly toxic atmosphere. She paced back steadily and the thrall fell before her like dominos. Killing thrall was easy until you had to reload. That's where they get you. Knowing she was at the end of her rounds, she jogged backwards a few steps and dropped the mag. In the space it took for her to reach a new one, the thrall were already closing in on her. The empty cartridge hadn't even hit the ground yet and they were already upon her. Something was weighing her down. She cursed as flashing talons reached closer in a hurry, holding the trigger once more on her SMG as she quickly started to be overwhelmed.

A flare of arc Light burst laterally across her field of view, sending thrall everywhere. Schade's grenade had found its place in the fray, briefly putting up a hostile barrier between the Hive and the guardians. Between shots at the encroaching acolytes, he looked to Meteor, who was being uncharacteristically defensive this encounter. _His Light is still down from the sword,_ Ori reminded him, sensing his unease as the titan was retreating from the acolytes' line of fire. _He's only got his guns..._

_ Yeah, well he's got mine, too._

Meteor paced back behind a large stone, still feeling unsteady. Between his Light-exhaustion and the horrible atmosphere, he was struggling to keep his dominance in the fight. A round from a hive pistol glanced off his pauldron, reminding him that none of them had shields either. His light was slow to return and he just couldn't catch his breath in the dark haze. He was beginning to regret picking up that blade...

Lily chimed into his thoughts. _You need to fall back,_ she suggested nervously. _You guys could afford some close calls in the Black Garden because you both had shields... You don't even have a grenade right now._

_ It's this damn poison..._

_ You need to move. Now._

He forced a breath and jerked to the side as a couple thrall came charging at him from around the rock. He went to punch one and clocked it square in the jaw, but there was no arc energy and the hit was only slightly less than expected. The small body still crumpled, but he still resorted to a few rounds from his hand cannon to stave off the remaining targets. His nerves hitched suddenly at a presence to his left...

"Meteor, look out!"

His attention snapped to the sound of Trish's voice, turning to see the raised sword just five feet away. The flaming knife in the knight's throat was his only saving grace, offering him just enough time during the giant's flinch to throw himself to the side, narrowly dodging the downward strike that certainly would have killed him. A traveling shockwave of hissing energy marched noisily past him, being just close enough for him to feel it in his legs. It took him off of his feet and he couldn't seem to get his legs back under him. Glancing up at the knight from his back, he could see it had already resituated and was raising the sword a second time. Lily shouted frantically at him in his mind, but there was no time. He growled furiously in a different language at the looming death and raised his cannon in defiance, pulling the trigger as many times as he could before the blade came down...

There was a sound like a whip and a flash of polished metal, and the knight reeled. Schade had launched himself from the rock ledge and went for Sardon's throat, slashing broadly and trying to twist his helmet off. It was enough to topple the giant, and the hunter spun gracefully from his prey to the ground, settling on his feet between Meteor and the enemy. There was a fierceness to his eyes that was reminiscent of a hunting panther.

Meteor scrambled to his feet, rather surprised he was still breathing even though his legs were feeling worse for wear. Despite being somewhat vertical again, he was a bit disoriented by the sudden change of plans... Not that he was complaining. He steadied himself with another forced breath against the hostile air, reloading now that he'd just processed his brush with a final death.

Trish had seen her fellow hunter go flying up against the knight's head, toppling him away from Meteor rather effectively before switching to the ground like it was some kind of dance. "How are you moving so easily, Schade?!" She grimaced in frustration, feeling like she was fighting her own body.

"It's relative to height," Schade said quickly as the knight got up again. He brandished his knife at the ready, prepared to get into physical combat with this thing at least five times his size. "Get down to the ground, the pressure is lessened."

_ "God,_ I'd hate to be up there if that's the case," Meteor laughed, half exhausted.

Schade was undeterred. "Fall back until you get some Light back, we've got this..."

Trish sputtered an exaggerated laugh, uncertain of his words. "You telling me we're getting down on the ground and brawling with this thing? Have you _seen_ that sword?!"

Sardon roared and brandished the horrid blade, preparing for another strike.

"Yes, now _let's go!"_ Schade charged directly at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to dodge the long blade at this range. He lunged unreasonably close, narrowly missing the sword's strike zone by the fray of his cloak. In that split second in time, he was right up under the towering unit's chest, staring up at him for the barest moment before stabbing for where he only guessed were vital organs in the knight's abdomen. He managed one strike against Sardon's plate armour before he had to roll away from the monster's grasping claws. He had to find a gap and dig in, or someone was going to get killed down here...

Meteor growled in frustration as he took cover once more. "I'm not meant to hide like this," he complained quietly... His frustration was almost intimidating, and Lily's silence wasn't helping that fact. He glanced across the room to see another detachment of smaller Hive and grinned silently behind his helmet.

"Just hang back and let us do some damage," Trish said, grinning despite how nervous she was. "Schade, you're insane... But I guess I'm gonna give it a shot." She held her stance low and sprung down to the pit, holding a wide strafe around Sardon with the trigger held down on her SMG. Already, as the beast spun and snarled to engage her, she was moving better. She saw Schade tracking with her movements perfectly on the other side of the giant, dividing his attention between her bullets and his. Somehow, they managed to avoid crossfire.

"Not bad!" She took a steadying breath... Or tried to. The air around them was still toxic, and the overall condition made it difficult to keep going. In the half second it took for her cough to distract her, Sardon turned to choose her as a target and charged at her. "Oh, shit!" She hopped out of the way, narrowly dodging the sideways strike with a well-timed roll to the side.

Schade bolted toward Sardon while the monster's back was turned, hoping to get a strike in before he got wise. He moved, but his body was slow. Either from the toxins or the pressure from the dark energies, he was getting heavy. Quite unexpectedly, the knight's second strike came almost immediately after the first, the blade flashing and whirling around right for him. It was a bait, and Schade had nearly fallen for it. He cursed and sprung over the sweeping blow, striking it with his own small blade before springing awkwardly away from him. Unfortunately, Sardon was quick to follow him... Very quick. There was no falling back from this charge. He barely managed to dodge the strike, appearing again in Sardon's personal space. This time, the knight had been expecting it. He looked down at Schade caught between his blade and his feet, and visibly smiled.

Schade's stomach knotted. This Hive was incredibly skilled, and he'd terribly misjudged his opponent...

Meteor had just dispatched a thrall when he drove an elbow down into an acolyte's skull. This was more like it. He tossed the acolyte's body aside and fired a couple rounds from his hand cannon into some oncoming thrall. The more he brought down the Hive's numbers, the better he felt. Granted, it could only get so decent with the toxins they were breathing in. He stepped aside briefly and clenched his fist, smiling at the small, brief sparks that teased along his knuckles.

Lily chirped. "Your light is coming back! I can see it, you're almost up to speed!"

He was about to make a smart comment, but something terrible yanked at his nerves.

"Schade!"

He spun around, yet again in response to Trish's voice. He was just in time to see Sardon picking up Schade by the neck and flinging him across the arena with incredible force. The poor hunter flew like a ragdoll against the nearby rockface hard enough to hear something crunch. When he hit the ground, he didn't get up. Sardon wasted no time. He was already going to retrieve his toy, wrapping his claws around Schade's midsection and picking him up like he was nothing. Schade hardly responded beyond a very feeble attempt at moving his arms, knife still loosely clutched in one hand.

"Schade, wake up!" Ori was shouting over comms. "You can reach his wrist! Your blade!"

"Deixe-o ir, seu filho da puta!" Trish reached into the light and flames engulfed her. Two of the three shots from her golden gun struck the knight's sword, but the third shot staggered him. She could see Schade coming to a bit more, but there was clearly something wrong. He was trying to get his knife into the knight's wrist, but he looked like he was fighting just to breathe. Gritting her teeth, she lit another knife and threw it as hard as she could at Sardon's face.

The knight brought his sword up just in time to block the blade, sending it flying off with a shallow clink. He all but laughed, then brought Schade up like he was going to just smash him onto the ground.

Schade's vision tunneled. He could hear Trish screaming various obscenities at the knight, but he had no idea what she was saying. He couldn't breathe. The blow against the rocks had broken far too many ribs to be workable... This was it.

_ Schade, please..._

Ori was there in the back of his mind, pleading. His voice was shaking.

_ Don't... N-not like this... Not here..._

Between the toxic fog and the burden of darkness over them all, he had made the fatal flaw of underestimating his target. Things were getting dark as he felt the monster lift him up, knowing what would happen next... Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light in his peripheral. Arc light. When Sardon's three eyes glanced downward, he saw an opening. He saw _weakness._ Forcing himself to focus, to move, he reached back and unslung his sniper rifle, unfolding it and squeezing the trigger at point blank. _"Not here... Motherfucker..."_

Meteor roared and charged at the massive knight with everything he had, chanelling all the arc light he could into a shoulder charge aimed right at the beast's ribs. Between the charge and the sudden sniper shot, the enemy couldn't block everything. Both attacks connected, and Sardon was thrown from his feet with the sound of crunching bones. His right hand gripped the sword for dear life, but Schade was tossed yet again across the room, this time rolling limply to the ground after snagging on the knight's claws.

Trish made a break for Schade, finding him barely conscious and struggling for breath. "Meteor, we gotta get out of here, he's wiping the floor with us..."

"Retreat, _hell,"_ the furious titan snarled, fists still clenched as he faced off with the knight. "He's wounded, we can do this..."

_ Schade...?_

_ "He's_ wounded? Look at Schade! He's not going to make it if we don't get him out of here!" She had her hands on him, feeling his weak attempts to get himself off the ground.

_ Don't move, you're too injured..._

Sardon was on his feet, albeit unevenly, growling at Meteor before him.

"We did'n come down here to turn back empty-handed..."

Schade managed to get himself propped up on one elbow, trying to keep his other hand from wrapping around his midsection. He managed a staggered breath, feeling his ribs shifting with the pressure.

_ Do _ not _ get up, I can't tell what your ribs are pointing at right now._

He could vaguely hear Trish and Meteor talking, and the sound of the monstrous knight growling in return. He didn't know how they'd gotten this much time, but he was slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings. Another forced breath, this time without almost blacking out from it.

_ We need to get back to the surface... You're bleeding internally, there's nothing I can do down here..._

Movement caught his attention and his vision focused a bit more. He could feel Trish hanging on to his arm like she was ready to help him up, likely to carry him out. Everything was muffled, but something about Sardon had his attention. His movements were uneven, but still strong as he faced the titan. The sword still flashed, but something hooked in his left talons had drawn his gaze. Something small and soft, drifting like fabric. Suddenly, everything focused and he looked down to the left side of his belt.

It was Civil's mark in Sardon's hand...

Meteor snarled back at the knight, undeterred as the beast brandished the sword with an echoing roar. "Come on, then!"

"Meteor, wait!" Lily started, her tone tensely unsteady. "You used up too much Light with that charge, you have nothing left! Not even a grenade! With the energies here, recharging is too slow, just what are you planning to do against that thing?!"

Sardon went to charge him already, blade raised for a downward strike.

"Gonna improvise, sounds like–"

"Move, titan!"

Meteor jerked at the sudden command from Ori, of all voices, pulling himself back just as the blade came down... And something dashed over his shoulder.

It was Schade, seemingly having forgotten his injuries and re-entered the fight with a stunning kick to the side of Sardon's blade before it could connect. The odd angle of the strike offset the shockwave to almost nothing and looked as though it might have broken the knight's wrist.

Meteor all but stumbled back, aghast at what he was seeing. "Ori, did you...?"

"I had nothing to do with it," Ori said nervously... From behind him. Meteor spun to see Ori floating near Trish, apart from his partnered guardian. "He's not listening, h-he's going to tear himself apart if he fights like this!"

Trish got to her feet in a hurry. "Get away from him!"

Meteor turned to see Schade fully engaging Sardon, striding toward him with nothing but malice in his eyes. It was a look the titan actually recognized. "Oh... _Oh."_

Sardon composed himself and growled again, seeing the small guardian approaching him freely and taking his sword into both hands. The response he saw was the quick flicker of light across the hunter's dagger as he readied it with a flick of his wrist. He showed no pain or weakness whatsoever... He could respect that. Grinning through a lipless maw, he snarled and struck first. A diagonal strike, quick and heavy... But it was guided through too quickly. He watched the blade get diverted into its own direction of travel, flicked effortlessly by a single kick from this guardian who no longer seemed to abide by the damage done to his body. He felt his sword arm overreach and something popped in his tendons... It _was_ his tendons. Distorted by the cyclical movement of his cloak, the hunter's small blade had whipped around to slash the inside of his elbow, releasing the function of his arm entirely. Panic took him as the hilt of his blade spun into the guardian's hands, still moving from the fall as he whirled it like a pinwheel into his shoulder. He watched his arm drop from his body, then the sword spun again, cleaving across his abdomen, bypassing his armour completely. His knees began to buckle as his insides came out, leaving him cold where he collapsed. There was only a fraction of a pause when the guardian before him readied the blade again for a final strike.

Schade was dead to the world. He only knew one thing, and that was the fact that this... _Creature_ had something that didn't belong to it. Something that didn't even belong to _him._ It was something precious. Untaintable. Dear, even if only to him... It had no right. _That doesn't belong to you._ The blade spun easily, readily guiding itself through each strike. It was hungry. He was on the warpath. He would make this worm _suffer._ His movements were instantaneous. Perfect. He brought the edge of the blade first across Sardon's remaining arm, severing it at the shoulder.

_ Your logic..._

Another slash, and he could see the inside of the knight's chest.

_ Your hunger..._

The edge glinted, perhaps finer than it had been before, and slashed its chest in another direction.

_ It is mine..._

The blade grew heavier... So he used it like a hammer.

_ Mine..._

He brought the edge down on either the knight's head or its neck, he wasn't certain. He welcomed the encroaching darkness.

_ Mine._

Again.

_ MINE._

Again...

_ ** MINE.** _

Again...?

_ ...? _

Suddenly, the blade was quite heavy in his hands. Or was it his hands? His body was hardly responding, for some reason. The edges of his vision closed in. He felt like his Light was gone... Was someone calling him? He couldn't lift the blade anymore. He couldn't figure out his legs. He couldn't... Breathe? He couldn't breathe. He was caught somewhere between complete numbness and excruciating pain. He wasn't sure he could tell the difference. His mind slipped away from him momentarily. Something moved in the corner of his vision... Where was the horizon? His knees buckled suddenly, and the world turned black...

_ Schade... _

Time was uneven... Or his understanding of it was, at least. He wasn't sure if he was here or there, but the sound of Ori's voice calling him was unmistakable.

_ Schade, come back... Please? _

He must have died... Or damn near. Flecks and clouds of reality faded in and out of his perception, showing bits of light or shadow.

_ You've gone too far, come back to me. _

He was finally able to recognize physicality. His aching body was limp and unresponsive to his own thoughts, and he wasn't sure just what kind of green he was seeing above him. He did, however, recognize a single blue point hovering somewhere in his field of vision.

_ There you are... I've got you... _

"Schade? Can you hear me, friend?" It was Meteor's voice now. He opened his eyes to see the titan just over him, knelt by his shoulder with one arm holding him up. For how he was laying, he was sure the much larger exo had carried him. He could hear Trish somewhere nearby, but he couldn't tell what she was saying.

"Eyes up, guardian." Ori spoke again, and it was enough to fully wake him.

Schade grimaced against the sensation of cold, eyes finally focusing on snow and the familiar aurora above in the Cosmodrome sky. They were back on the surface, and Ori had just healed him. "The fuck just...?" He searched his own unclear thoughts for a moment, then remembered what had pushed him to this point. He sat bolt upright and reached for his belt, searching for something that was missing.

"Here," Meteor said as he held the something out to him. "I know what you're want'n." It was the mark that had been stolen.

Schade reached up and took the tattered cloth, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding. It was safe. He still had his mark. Feeling it in his hands again eased the tension of one situation and effectively revealed to him another.

"Yes, Sardon is down," Trish was saying over comms not relayed through their helmets. "Send scouts to my location. There's something down here that has an effect on Light... No, he's... He's busy at the moment... We're all fine."

Schade grimaced internally at the thought of explaining all this to the Vanguard. He forced himself to his feet with a tired sound, noticing Ori just next to him. The ghost was staring silently at him, just watching... For once, he had no idea what he was thinking. Whatever he had done, it had apparently shaken his companion.

"Y'alright?" Meteor was standing just near him, but not too near.

It took him a moment to respond. "Right as rain," he said distractedly as he went about fastening the mark back to his belt.

Meteor watched him work, taking a surprising amount of care in the handling of the old item. It was clear it meant a lot to the hunter, even if no one had been around to see the blackout rage he'd just went through over it. A hardcase was a hardcase, be it cloak, mark, or bond. His attention was pulled by the sound of a sigh. He looked over to see Trish fiddling with her hand cannon with a frown. "Why so glum? The big Hive is dead, and we're not. Should be grinnin', it's a great day!"

She shrugged, smirking. "The monster may be dead, but it's no thanks to me." She watched Schade only briefly before looking back to Meteor, then her gaze wandered off to the side somewhere. "I was dead weight for the whole mission... I couldn't even hit that thing when I needed to. Schade was almost killed because of it."

"I was almost killed because I underestimated it," he corrected as he adjusted his belt once more, then turned to face her. "We all did... That was no normal knight. It's no wonder they wanted it dead."

"Only one of my shots connected," she hissed angrily, looking Schade in the eye though meaning the tone for herself. "Three shots, and only one... My knives were useless. That thing looked at me like I wasn't even a threat to it..."

"Then practice."

Her gaze faltered. It was true, she had spent most of her new life flying by the seat of her pants, being generally very good at what she did as a hunter. But challenging herself? Fighting enemies much stronger than normal? That was something she almost never did. Going out and wiping out rank-and-file forces of the Darkness was something she did on a regular basis, but pitting herself against powerful foes wasn't in her history. "...Can I just... Stick with you two?"

The two exos looked at her, but only one grinned. "That'd be great! I think we'd count as a real fireteam, then!"

Upon Schade's silence, Trish took off her helmet and offered him a sheepish look. "It seems like every time I'm around you two, I learn something new... If it's alright with _ you, _ I'd like to stick around." Her brow knitted, obviously uncomfortable addressing him. "I know I've been... Less than desirable these last couple outings. I'm sorry for that. But... If I'm going to get any better at this whole guardian business, I'd like to learn from the likes of you."

Schade watched her incredulously. Perhaps if he wasn't still wearing his helmet, she could see his gaze. He was silent until he could feel both of them staring at him... It was actually all of them, including their ghosts. He shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know when I became the fireteam leader, but okay," he mumbled.

Meteor straightened with his hidden smile, then looked back to Trish. "And just like that, we're a fireteam!"

Trish took a breath and finally smiled a bit. "I won't let you down. I can promise you that–"

"Don't make any damn promises on my account," Schade growled suddenly. "Only soul I trust in this universe is my ghost, I'll make that clear here and now..."

As if sensing the wrong kind of energy brewing, Meteor spoke before anything could deteriorate. "Let's get back to th' Tower. Call it a win and get some grub. And some rest."

Trish paused, but nodded. "That... Sounds like a great idea."

Meteor held out his fist and Trish returned the gesture with a bump of her own knuckles. When the titan turned to see Schade, the hunter had already drawn back into himself, watching his ghost in communal silence. As many times as he's seen Schade interact with Ori, this was new to him... They were uncomfortable. He mentally filed this away while they waited for their ghosts to transmat them to their ships.

_ Schade... I need to know you're okay. _

_ What do you mean?_

_ You've _ never _ done something like that before. Whatever you did, it... It was like severance. I couldn't get through to you at all... _

_ ...It was probably the darkness. It was a terrible environment._

_ No. Even after Meteor carried you out... I don't know what happened. It was like your Light had hidden itself. As if you'd blocked me out..._

_ Ori, I would never..._

_ Not on purpose, no, but... I would hope you'd never even consider..._

Silence hung between them for a full minute. The only thing that finally broke the tension was Schade's hand reaching up to gently thumb one of Ori's whiskers, drawing the ghost's gaze back to him. "Sorry bud," he said quietly, his entire demeanor softer and more normal. "We're okay... Let's head back home."

Ori blinked at him, finally seeming to relax a bit by movement of his shell. Something had frightened him about that encounter, but it all seemed to go away with that one simple gesture. He managed an upward tilt of the sides of his shell, then focused his light for transmat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- I will apologize for the time it took to release this chapter. I mentioned earlier that Bastion recoveries were taking up a lot of my time, but a change in my job and the addition of nerve damage has only made things more difficult. Though a bit painful, it's also a bit entertaining watching my arm randomly drop while I'm working... Bear with me. Pins and needles won't stop this train of fluff and angst. lol
> 
> \- I change some mechanics here, namely the function of Hive swords and their interaction with the Light. I also changed the Sardon fight a bit, but only by making him smarter... It made a huge difference giving that knight boss some modicum of intelligence. I never meant for Schade to experience an NDE, to be honest here. lol Brace yourselves, as I will be intermittently changing a lot of canon mechanics from here on out...
> 
> \- A long time ago, I wrote a short story involving a bunch of characters with different nationalities and they all had moments of speaking their native language. I've kept this spirit alive in this story and intend on including everyone's nationalities and revealing them as they get more comfortable with each other... Or as they panic. Or rage. Trish just screams in Portuguese. She's your free giveaway here. Going to have to either wait or speculate for the rest of them!
> 
> \- Schade is beginning to recognize here that he's not afraid of ALL Hive, but is now considering that scary old wizard to be hiiiiighly suspect with her ability to shut him down so effectively... She loves him like a scientist loves a lab rat.
> 
> \- Trish calls herself an "expert" on the Eliksni, but she didn't realize they're almost naked. If only she knew, she would probably blush like crazy as she is quite bashful... Schade is actually an experienced biologist, and seeing various species' bits and bobs elicits no more reaction from him than one might get from seeing a rock in the road. He's pretty much asexual... Sorry, shippers!
> 
> \- SCHADE, YOU HUG THAT GHOST RIGHT NOW, YOU SMOL ROBOT MAN. HE IS FEARLESS AND YOU'VE FRIGHTENED HIM.


	8. Song of the Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trust is a rare thing. It is difficult to obtain and even moreso to keep. For Schade, it is a dangerous concept that has been used against him far too many times to be practical. When darkness approaches again and the three are summoned to their Vanguard duties once more, however, will he be ready to share his trust once more? Or has the hunter been hunted too many times for it to be real?

**Song of the Machine**

"He backslides after every encounter with th' Hive..."

Dim, warm light. The back of the room was smokey and more blue from neon terminals. Music idly bumped through the walls, just enough to set the atmosphere. Glasses of various drinks all reflected bits of gold from the fireplace.

"All things considered, I think he did alright."

Guardians and lightless alike mingled in this place. Hunters regaled their stories from dagger-pocked maps, warlocks dwelled in quieter corners with their infinite documents, and titans threw mostly-restrained punches to show their new training exercises; all were watched eagerly by soldiers, shopkeeps, and simple civilians like celebrities. One titan, however, leaned back alone against the arm of the couch, sprawling out one leg across the length of it.

"It's like he's showin' every way to fix it, but somethin's got it more complicated than that." Meteor's fingers bounced idly from his dangling hand, showing equal parts impatience and frustration. He was staring up at the ceiling of the lounge, the place small but lively. "I can't treat him like I've treated the others..."

Lily was floating just around his head, switching angles here and there. "Everyone deals with trauma differently," she said. "He just... Lashes out a lot harder than the others."

Meteor smirked thoughtfully. "Yeh, but I've never seen someone go _that far_ just to make somethin' suffer... I've seen 'im get angry, and I've seen 'im scared half to death, but _that?"_ He recalled what had happened to Sardon. How Schade had sprung up despite his grievous injuries, the way he moved so fluidly with broken bones and failing organs. He had physically maimed something much larger than him and used its own weapon like it was a part of him, his own body breaking and failing under the stress and strain of the effort. He remembered his ghost's panic as the hunter's Light completely disappeared, and how much more violent the guardian had gotten once it did. Sardon was well-dead and he was still hacking away at it... It almost made him shudder. "He _wanted_ that knight to suffer... All over that lil' mark."

Lily buzzed in thought. "Back when we were all in the Black Garden, Ori mentioned they had gone down into the Hellmouth. Then, while you were getting your new mark from the Speaker, he locked up when I asked how they got out... It's clear something awful happened down there, and neither of them want to talk about it."

Meteor grunted in agreement. "I see it in his ghost, too. 'Specially durin' that fight, when he went down... They almost lost each other down there," he thought out loud. "But instead o' losin' each other, they lost someone else... Did either of 'em mention their fireteam?"

Lily shook her core. "No... But that little outburst from Schade when Trish asked to join us makes me think something bad happened there, too... You'd think if he lost his whole fireteam to the _Hive,_ he wouldn't have such horrible trust issues with other _guardians._ And why would he just save one mark?"

"Maybe it was someone important."

They both peered up from their couch to see Trish enter the room, helmet off and looking relaxed. "Ah, there ye are!" Meteor sat up, making room for her (and possibly three more) on the couch. "Didja have a good rest?"

Trish nodded with a grunt, then sat down just next to the titan. "Yeah, there's actually a shop down in the City that serves rice pudding..." She made a sheepish face. "I had to spoil myself a little, I guess."

Meteor only laughed. "That sounds good! Always wanted t' try that!"

Lily blinked at him. "You say that about _every_ food. I think you'll try anything once."

"Or twice!"

The human blinked. "Wait, do exos even have teeth? How do you guys even eat?"

Her shy ghost spoke up this time. "Exos have masticators... Grinders. Their mouths are like grinders."

Meteor openly giggled, then flared out what appeared to be six small, frond-like appendages from the sides of his mouth, three on each side. Lily bounced herself off the top of his forehead. "Don't be so rude!" They both laughed. "Exos don't have tongues either, so they have those... Things."

"Ey, we gotta taste our food somehow!"

Tigger flinched, but laughed anyway. "What a terrifying biology lesson..."

Trish chuckled, then went to staring at the her boots. She was silent for a moment, contemplating her words. "I heard you talking about Schade... He really was in the Hellmouth?"

Meteor's silliness dissolved and his aqua gaze went distant. "Aye, he was... Been tryin' to figure out what it did to 'im."

"That explains why he was so afraid of the Hive." The redhead frowned, thinking back on their most recent mission. "I feel bad about messing with him... But if he's so afraid of them, why is he going on all these missions, then?"

It was Lily's turn to interject. "When he asked Meteor to join him, his ghost looked like he was practically speaking a different language. Like asking for help was just something he didn't do, or something."

Trish nodded. "So he's afraid enough of the Hive to ask for help, and this is the first time he's done that, I take it?"

"That's what I'm gettin'," Meteor said, then leaned back against the couch. He seemed confused about something. "But... Why that _one?"_

"One...?"

"Normally, y'only see the boy get scared when things close in on 'im, like back when we took out the Valus." He leaned forward and propped his arms on his knees, interlacing his fingers in thought. "Saw it when we got pinned down. He felt surrounded and took everythin' out to get away from it... Last night, I was the one who told him to kit for range."

Trish blinked. "That was your decision?"

"Aye. He was willin' t'listen because he was afraid of gettin' surrounded again, I could tell. He was comfortable until that _one old wizard_ showed up..." He stared hard at his hands clasped before him. "That thing recognized him... It _knew_ him... If it didn't come from the Hellmouth, then I dunno where it could possibly have seen him before. That boy took one look at her and froze like a mouse in front of a cat..."

Trish smirked. "Why do you keep calling him 'boy,' like he's a kid? I mean, you're as tall as Lord Shaxx and Schade is_ really_ small compared to you, so I guess there's that... But you can't be that old."

Meteor offered a bit of a wily smile. "How old d'ye think I am?"

She shrugged, thinking about her answer. Guardians had a difficult aging system. Since they go by their resurrection date, one guardian appearing to be older could be only a couple months old, but another guardian who looks significantly younger could be years older. "I dunno... Ten? Twelve? You seem pretty experienced, despite the fact that no one knows you. I'm six, so..."

"I'm _twenty_-six." Upon her stunned silence, Meteor only smiled. "Been around for a while. Seen a lot of things. Lot of guardians... Y'learn to see past all the struttin' and sharpshootin', see all the struggle behind the trigger. I once met a guardian who was terrified of dyin'... Turns out, poor guy was rezzed in a warzone, died a lot right off the bat. Real jumpy fella, had to mind your voice around 'im."

Trish found herself staring at the exo. "You sound like you do this a lot..."

"Mm...?"

"Help people, I mean..." She smiled at him, brown eyes a bit bright. "That's not something you see very often, especially from guardians..."

"Quite often, it's guardians who need it the most." His tone was soft and uncharacteristically somber. "I've seen 'em go so far out of the Light... Seen 'em lose their ghost and go mad. Seen a titan kill himself so many times, his ghost gave up rezzin' the man. Hell, I've seen a hunter kill his own ghost, just so he could die one final death. Ye have people who go so dark, they never come back. People like the Shadows. People like Cyrell, who just..." He fell silent for a time, eyes burning with his thoughts. "...I can't see that keep happening. I can't call myself a guardian and just _let that happen_ to other guardians..."

Trish frowned, watching the typically upbeat titan brood. Even if it was only briefly, it was unusual and she didn't like it. "You think... Schade could become one of those people?"

Meteor's gaze tightened in front of him, seeming like he was contemplating a battle. "Trish, if that hunter ever goes dark, I'd hope t' be dead long before then..."

The stars outside were perfect. Unbidden from any atmospheric burden, their light shone peacefully through the void. Some stars seemed insignificantly small compared to the rest, but were actually incredible giants burning at the furthest reaches... It was a thought for any ghost still searching for their chosen. They could be of any strength, anywhere in the system for them to find. The Earth was far below, glowing softly from the light of the sun in the half-frozen, half-burning vacuum. It was a view Ori has been staring at for some time, tucked quietly away in Schade's hood as the hunter worked at something.

They were in their ship, orbiting silently around their home planet. Schade was pouring over his terminals, combing restlessly through the vast pool of data Ori had gathered for him. He had perhaps learned more about the Hive in the last six hours than he had his whole life. He let out a sigh and put his face in his hands, finally feeling the fatigue. "If I go the rest of my life without hearing the word 'worm' in this context ever again, I'll be happy..."

Ori pipped quietly at him, turning his core to see him from just under his jaw. "There were a lot of documents about their gods and their spawn, both of which seem to revolve around worms... I'm not sure if it means the worm gods strengthen them or if they _eat_ them," he added with a suspicious buzz.

Schade put his arms down and shrugged, the bottom fold of his hood briefly covering Ori's lens. "I think it's both." He made an odd, brief expression that showed how tired he was, then swiped the screen to the next document. "The Vanguard sure has a hard-on for these things, I swear..."

"I hear only the most important Hive are given a worm from birth, and they nurture it as a means of power and protection." He paused, his inner thoughts shifting and coming out as little mechanical chirps and buzzes. "It's... Kind of like the relationship between ghosts and guardians, when you think about it..."

Schade scoffed. "It's nothing like that..."

Ori sat in silence for a time, staring off at far-away thoughts as they drifted in. "You wouldn't go crazy if you lost me, would you...?"

Schade made a face, visibly derailed from his data, and carefully removed Ori from his hood. He held his ghost in both hands, smiling a bit. "Ori, I'll be completely honest here... I would go _batshit insane_ if I ever lost you. Calling it now."

On one hand, Ori was relieved by the answer. On the other, it called to mind a common fear among ghosts. "Schade, if my Light ever went out, I just... Need to know you'd still be _you_ in the end. That you'll never submit to the Darkness."

"Why are you talking like this...?"

"What I saw from you down in that cave, right before you collapsed..." He chittered, gaze drifting down in uneasy thought. "That was... Not something I've ever seen you do before. I was _completely_ locked out from helping you even after we'd put some distance between us and that cave... The moment you killed Sardon, the oppressing field lifted, but I was still unable to do anything to help you." He gave an uncomfortable chitter, seeming awkward and nervous. "You also kept hitting him with his own sword. And you were making your own injuries _much_ worse..."

"Okay, I get it," Schade sighed and leaned his cockpit seat back, setting Ori on his chest. "I lost control a bit there..."

_ "A bit?"_

"A lot." He was idly stroking the side of Ori's shell with his thumb while he peered out at the stars surrounding them. "But really, you think I'd go dark on you?"

Ori rested his full weight, which wasn't much at all, on Schade's armour. His gaze shifted back to him, his concern obvious. "That's the thing, I think you _did, _even if it was only for a moment... Promise me," he said, suddenly seeming rather resolute.

"You know I hate promises..."

"Promise me that no matter what, no matter how far you go or how deep it gets, you'll always keep the Light and never, ever give up."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

Ori floated upwards from his chest, hovering just an inch or two above him. "Promise! ...Please?"

Schade paused, frowning as he watched his ghost staring at him. "I really scared you down there, didn't I...?"

Ori said nothing, though his averted gaze said more than words ever could. He was tense, almost shy about the notion.

A sigh. "Okay, I won't go _completely_ off the deep end, and I'll keep just a _little _Light going deep down..." He smiled a bit, then brought his hand up to curl his pinky around one of Ori's antennae. "And I'll never, ever give up... I promise."

The gesture put an honest smile on Ori's shell. His eye glowed more brightly as all of his corners tilted upwards. "Well, it's not all word for word, but it's a start... I can't believe you'd make a promise for me."

Schade scoffed dramatically. "Come oooon, anything for you, bud."

_ "Anything...?"_ Ori managed a crooked squint at him, humour chirping in his voice.

"Uuh... Sure...?"

"Good!" The ghost lilted upwards, gently bopping his hunter on the forehead with the bottom of his shell. "Then sleep."

Schade groused, but didn't move to sit up. "What? Why?"

"Because this is day two, and that's not healthy." He made a small glide around the cockpit, saving data and shutting down screens and unneeded systems. "I can tell you're tired as all getout... You're about to yaaaaaaaawn, aren't you?"

He most certainly did. "Dammit, shtop..."

Ori chuckled a little, then nestled back into place in his guardian's hood. "Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on comms and anything else that might be important. I'll man the ship, you count the Z's. Sound like a plan?"

Schade groaned defiantly, stretching with one arm before resting it around Ori and over his head. He was beyond exhausted and was was done ignoring it. "But I've still got so much research to do on that... Scary-as-fuck wizard..."

"The research will still be there in a few hours," Ori chided from his little nest. "Now, don't forget to take your armour off before you sleep. You'll wake up all kinds of stiff again..." He waited in silence for a response, but none came. "Schade?" He tilted his core up to see the exo's lights were already out, having surrendered to sleep before he could argue any further. Ori smiled again and nestled in, idly connecting to the onboard computer to manage the ship and its systems. While accessing the maintenance logs, he flicked through the data Schade had been reading about the Hive, doing what he could in the name of research while his guardian slept...

Nothing but blissful silence. The darkness was not oppressive, but welcoming.

_ Schade?_

Dreamless sleep was incredibly rare. It was something he cherished on most nights...

_ Schade, wake up._

...Or tried to. He kept a thin sleep schedule just to stay tired, theorizing that he could keep himself too exhausted to have night terrors. Surprisingly, it worked.

"_Schaaaaade..."_

He groaned as his arm slowly slid over his face. The movement was almost painful, sending pauldron-shaped jolts through his shoulders and back. More movement made more aches. He drew his knee up and it popped, reminding him that he was the kind of idiot who slept in full gear on his own ship sometimes.

"Wake up, Cayde called."

That got him up. Quickly. A surprised grunt and he was upright in his seat, already going for his ship's onboard systems. "Thought you were watching comms?"

Ori chittered. "Relax, it was automated... He left a message for you," he explained, hovering around to Schade's front as the hunter groggily started stretching his legs. "The Vanguard is wanting you to go investigate a Warmind bunker RAS-2 in the Cosmodrome. They've been getting signals from the area that indicate the Hive are making a move down there."

Schade sighed as he folded forward to put his forehead on his knees, a feat only made impressive due to the fact that he had his heels on the ship's console. "Lemme guess... Eris?"

Ori chirped an affirmative. "Yep. And it looks like the message was sent to Meteor and Trish as well... Lily sent me a message saying they'd be waiting for you on the Tower."

"No need," Schade said as he stood, then reached back from over his head to take hold of his ankle behind his shoulders. "Send a reply... We're meeting in the Forgotten Shore. If they want to join me, I'm there when they're ready... And Meteor isn't allowed to pick my kit this time."

Ori beeped briefly. "Done... What'd you learn?"

Schade was in the middle of lacing his fingers behind his back, allowing his shoulders to stretch as he moved his arms upwards. "Not... Sleep in armour..." His shoulder gave a metallic pop, and he sighed happily.

"Exactly that... Taking us down. Brace for more cold."

"Oh, I'm used to it by now." Schade had his hands on one side of his hip, twisted practically all the way around as the ship descended through the upper atmosphere.

"I'm sure." The ghost beeped. "Between Hellas Basin and the Cosmodrome, the Vanguard seems more than happy to see you shiver."

"You rezzed me in Russia, in what appears to be the dead of winter, and I trudged through the night in nothing but cargo pants, a shirt, and a military jacket..." He sat down in his pilot seat, done stretching for now. "For all the patrols I've done here trying to figure out why I was there, I think I'm just part of the cold at this point."

"You have a point there," Ori buzzed as they darted across the sky at supersonic speeds, then blinked as his eye focused on something. "Hey, look!"

Schade peered out through the cockpit to see two familiar ships flying in formation far below. "We did just fly over Ukraine... Must be Meteor and Trish."

"No sensor pings... They haven't noticed us yet."

"That was fast..." He stared at them for some time, pacing just out of shadow range with them. "...We should see if their ships are combat ready."

Ori snorted. "Look at you, pulling pranks on your new fireteam already... I'm so proud of you."

He all but rolled his eyes at his ghost, sighing a bit. "Open a channel." He waited for the littlest buzz from Ori's shell. "Awful expedient of you two... Glad I don't have to wait."

Meteor's voice chimed in over comms, his smile audible. "There ye are! I think. You're in range for comms, but I can't see ye..."

Trish chuckled. "Get your beauty rest again? Gotta say, I prefer the more talkative you to the old Dickhead-1 you."

Schade offered a half-smile while no one could see him. "You called me creepy."

"Well, you are! You're even being creepy right now, not showing yourself... You're defeating yourself in your own argument."

"Who's arguing?"

Meteor interjected with a laugh. "Sounds like we're all ready t'go... I guess you didn't like my idea of changing your kit?"

Schade stifled a growl. "Only if you intend on getting us all killed again, then sure, I'll let you kit me for whatever you want. However, I feel like surviving just a little bit longer than the duration of this mission, so I'll pick my own loadout this time around."

"Fiiiine, you win this time, but I'm _definitely _teaching you how to punch like a titan in the future!"

Schade leaned back in his seat with a bit of a smirk, voice just a bit lower. "You clearly missed the part where I beat a giant Hive knight to death with his own sword..."

Ori beeped his way into the conversation. "We're closing in on the Cosmodrome... Everyone ready for the Forgotten Shore?"

"Got a nice, mixed loadout this time," Trish announced. "Got a scout rifle for range and a shotgun to go with my trusty hand cannon."

"Daddy's got a rocket launcher!"

Both hunters sighed over the radio. "What did he say about calling yourself daddy...?"

Lily cleared her nonexistent throat. "Scanner reports are saying the Hive have been a little more active than normal and seem to be concentrating around the Warmind bunker. Commander Zavala wanted the place explored, and Eris recommended the three of you to take the lead here."

"They picked a good bunch!" Meteor beamed. "We got this!"

As their ships entered lower atmosphere and began to slow, Schade could be heard snapping the slide on his trusty sidearm. "Vanguard's actually seeking us out for something... Interesting. Let's not disappoint them."

Trish's grin was audible. "You're concerned about what they think of you?" Their ships descended through clouds and ice gathered on their cockpit glass.

"Only _our_ Vanguard," Schade explained. "Only one who has bearing over us is Cayde."

"You've got a point..."

"Y'can't forget about Zavala," Meteor said as they all banked for a landing in the snow. "That man helped build the city when it was just a bunch o' shacks under the Traveler, then turned right 'round and defended it with tooth and nail. He's one tough sunovabitch. Real example to every titan out there. Hell, to every guardian out there."

"A fair point, but Cayde survived the Collapse without the City at all. A _real _survivalist..." They were all silent for a moment before Trish spoke again. "What's your take on him, Schade?"

The exo paused, then offered a small sigh. The sound was perhaps the most honest he'd made around them. "I hope to one day be half the hunter that man is..."

The three ships slowed over the morning-gold reaches of the Forgotten Shore, disturbing various surface matter across hard-frozen water as they all leaned and three guardians transmatted to the ground. Boots crunched the snow and frosted plants as the ships took off out of range, leaving the fireteam to take over.

Trish sighed as she loaded the wheel of her hand cannon. "Kay, so... Any info on what we're up against here?"

"More Hive," Schade said simply as he walked forward, then decided he had better explain further. "The Warmind Rasputin is the last survivor in a line of ancient doomsday weapons planted all around the system. If the Hive are showing interest in him, either to destroy or to control, then it stands to reason the Vanguard wants him protected."

They trudged up a hill through the snow following him. "I'd hate to imagine what the Hive would do with something that powerful."

"What they would do is inconsequential if we dig at them hard enough."

"So, what do we do when we get in there?"

A sudden gunshot had both the hunters snapping their rifles to attention off to their right, spying a vandal in the distance that just dropped dead from its head getting blown off. They both looked to Meteor, whose rifle was still smoking from the shot. He looked back to them with a pause of confusion. "...What?"

Schade was the first to relax, offering a steadying breath. "We go in... Find the big Hive leading them... Do _that_ to it... And go home."

"Short n' sweet, I like it," Meteor said as they continued to follow him up the hill to an old ruined building.

Trish peered over her shoulder at the titan, smirking at him through her helmet. "You really don't like the Eliksni, do you?"

"Honestly? No. No, I _really_ don't."

As they entered the shadow of the ruins, they heard the distorted muttering of an ancient machine. Hidden in the back corner of a blown-out room was a beacon once owned by human hands, now altered by Fallen tech. It was grainily transmitting something in Russian.

Trish frowned at it as Schade approached. "All this fuss, and _this_ is Rasputin...?" She snorted. "Kinda small..."

Meteor elbowed her, giggling quietly. "'Least we know he's not compensating..."

She shoved him, ignoring the man-sized machine as it continued to transmit. "Looks like a piece of junk... What's it even saying?"

"Events to come cast their shadow in advance, while events of the past leave behind pictures of themselves..."

They both looked to Schade at the sudden, somber speech.

Schade looked back and shrugged. "Я родилась здесь... Russian is my first language."

Trish sputtered as their fireteam leader simply turned to walk down some old stairs. "You don't even have an accent! Meteor sounds like... Whatever that is, and even _I_ have an accent, you sound like you're from a small town in the Americas!"

Meteor took on a dramatic tone. "Oh, 'e's a Russian spy, watch 'im!"

Schade actually allowed a chuckle as they descended into the building. "Russian spy, war machine, rogue soldier, I could've been anything before this life."

"Eh, not like it matters any," Meteor shrugged, but stopped when they all heard something from below.

The ruins gave way to more intricate work, tubes and wires strewn over a metallic floor. There was a large, diamond-like structure just ahead. It was emitting a morose sequence of notes, something that sounded much akin to the weeping of the soul in music form. The three guardians approached the structure, silent as they listened.

"Wow," Trish gawked as she peered around the room. "Classical music... It's beautiful."

Meteor nodded. "They certainly don't make it like that anymore."

Schade had approached the diamond, staring up at its various tubes and markings. "I know this song..." His gaze tilted down to the side in thought, searching through scattered and broken memory files. It was like walking into a newly built room and finding familiar things in it. "Yearning... Resignation... This is Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6," he deduced.

Trish listened intently to the broadcast, or at least appeared to take the oppressive bassoon as seriously as Schade was. "And the significance of this is...?"

"I think he's trying t'send a message," Meteor interjected as he approached, seeming oddly drawn to the structure as well. "Messages in music?"

Trish noticed her two teammates' focus and shifted her weight back cautiously. "Didn't the Warminds _create_ the exos?"

Schade stared at the structure, squinting a bit. "...He's in trouble." It was an easy conclusion to come to, at least for him. He could hear beyond just the music. The structure hissed and moved, and it was only then he realized he had his hand on the surface. It was a door, splitting in the middle and rising like a beetle shell. There was a long passageway inside, pristinely kept from the outside elements. Despite the outward calm, there was a tension that lingered in the back of Schade's mind. "Let's go. We need to find Rasputin's control room."

Meteor followed him in, rifle ready at the same sensation as the music fell to silence. "Aye," he said quietly. "There's somethin' in here... On yer toes, both of ye."

Trish had her hand cannon drawn and was closely following behind them, wary of every sharp corner in the bunker. "Why did he let us in? I thought Rasputin was the reclusive type."

"He is... There must be a lot o' trouble back here if'n he's callin' for help."

As they broke into an open area, more like a catwalk in a massively tall hallway, Schade snapped his attention to rapid movement charging toward them in the distance. "Thrall," he growled as he already started to pop heads. "The Hive have found their way in here already."

"How?!" Trish groused as a knight opened fire on them. "These bunkers are reinforced so densely, even the Collapse couldn't break them! What did they do, _transmat_ their way in?"

Meteor holstered his rifle. "Don't care, they're here, and Im'ma get 'em!" He whirled around his cover and charged directly for the knight, shoulder charging it into the catwalk railing.

Schade wasn't sure if he was laughing or cursing, but he drew out from behind his own cover to offer suppressing fire on the acolytes that were now firing on them. "You're an idiot, but I guess it works here."

Trish peered down the massive hallway as their titan managed to throw the knight from the railing. Through the various crates and stepways, she could see just two more knights scuttling in the distance. "Looks like we got two boomers running off to a side room," she said as she pulled out her scout rifle and mounted a crate. "More thrall are coming out of that way. Watch yourselves!"

Schade looked up at her over his shoulder. "Put holes in those knights, we've got the rest."

"Hell yeah, we do!" Meteor had just thrown a stray thrall over the railing like it was a ragdoll, happily engaging with just his fists.

Lily buzzed in through the comms. "Just remember to limit your damage... I've got a bad feeling about this going deeper."

"I agree," Ori beeped. "So far, every major encounter we've had with the enemy has led to us not being able to work as efficiently. It would be a good practice to adopt if you all start these Vanguard missions as though we're already limited."

Trish snorted. "You could've just said 'be careful' and we'd have gotten the point."

Schade shook his head and dipped around a corner to reload. _...Ori, were you researching that Wizard while I was asleep?_

_ I was,_ came the almost sheepish voice.

He released the magazine. _What did you find out?_

Ori contemplated this for a while, the world around them slowing by comparison as they talked. _Everything I could find indicated it was a Greater Hive by the name of Omnigul... We need to take her seriously. There's power in her voice, and she's incredibly cruel even by Hive standards. She's the consort to Crota, which means she's... Well, his wife._

The time it took for the charging handle on his rifle to lock back was immense. _...The Hive get married?_

_ She's the mate of a Hive god, and she... Experiments on guardians. If she gets a hold of you, there's no telling what she'll do to you._

_ I have a feeling she already has gotten a hold of me once..._

_ What do you mean?_

_ Just keep an eye out for me. Honestly, I think I can _feel _her here..._

The empty magazine hit the ground and the rifle gave a gentle kick in his hand, now ready again to fire. Their conversation took place in the space of a couple heartbeats. With time moving normally, he spun out of cover once more and took aim at the charging thrall, dropping them quickly as Meteor lobbed an arc grenade at the nearby acolytes.

Trish hopped down from her crate after dropping one knight and gravely wounding the second. "Easy target's around the corner," she announced as they all pushed forward.

"I got it!" Meteor ran forward and pulled out his shotgun, spotting the knight as it summoned a dark and fragmented shield in front of itself. He dropped and slid just around the bare edge of the barrier, aiming up and squeezing the trigger just as he passed, and the knight collapsed with an infernal wheeze. He just casually lay there where he'd slid, glancing over his shoulder and giving a thumbs-up as the two hunters approached.

Trish chuckled. "Show-off."

Silence took the bunker once more as the three guardians entered a room. It was some kind of observation area, one entire panel being made of glass and overlooking a massive room with various complicated tech hanging from the ceiling. Schade was at the glass, giving its surface a curious rapping with his knuckle. "Pretty stout glass..."

"Must be the control room," Trish said as she moved toward an open door to the side. She entered into the open area and looked around, relaxed in the sheer absence of enemies. "Not a speck of dust down here. Must've been closed off for centuries."

Meteor had followed her in, shotgun slung at his back. "S'almost sterile down here... What'd they work on in here?"

Schade found himself at a panel across the way, watching as its various screens flickered at waist-height. He watched the sequence as Trish approached and attempted to watch as well. She was just over his shoulder, and it made him instinctively flinch back a bit. "What?"

"Looks bugged," she frowned. "Think our ghosts can hack it?"

"It's not bugged," Schade sighed as he looked at it again. "The screens are just scrolling very rapidly. The images are clear, just... Fast."

"You're telling me you can see that?"

He nodded. "Exos have a much more advanced sensorium than humans, specifically around the visual cortex... I can definitely see that."

Meteor just walked right up and gave him a gentle shove. "Now who's the show-off?"

Trish laughed. "So, what's it showing?"

"Mars, Earth, Venus... Some other planets," he explained. "Topography on all of them... Maps. Ship blueprints. _Weapon_ blueprints... We'd be wise to keep these. Ori?"

"Already got it," his ghost pipped. "I figured you'd be curious enough, and the security on this panel is startlingly easy to access–"

The bunker shuddered briefly and the panels blared red with disagreement, and within seconds the room went dark. The only light in the room was the emergency band around the floor's edge and the eerie red-grey glow from behind the tubes above. The guardians were immediately at the ready, ghost hidden as they eyed every corner of the darkened room through their scopes.

"Tigger, talk to me," Trish said to her quiet ghost. "What just happened?"

He chirped nervously over their comms. "It's not a hacking response. Something is coming..."

"Damn right," Meteor growled, visibly tense now. "Somethin' big..."

Schade felt his own pulse quicken with anticipation. Somehow, he could feel what was coming, and that they were all about to have a very bad time with it. As if right on cue, he reflexively looked up at a green spark directly above the three of them as it turned into a dark, pinching warp mass. "Scatter!"

All three guardians jumped apart as the light pulsed and rotted cloth began to unfurl from the point. Claws appeared from the mass and eyes immediately followed, and the Great Witch Omnigul shrieked her hellish greeting to her prey.

"Looks like someone's back for seconds," Trish said tensely as she backed further away from the monstrosity.

Meteor openly growled at her. "Not gonna let ye win, hope ye know that..." He watched her focus on something and traced her gaze to Schade, who was still slowly backing away with his rifle drawn.

He was locked in on her gaze, already having recognized his first mistake there. It made him heavy, numb. Unsteady. He knew it was her doing this to him. A sickly part of him wondered what this power would feel like if he didn't have the grace of a helmet visor between him and her. With great effort, he managed to pry his eyes away and look about the room. It was sealed, and there was no power to activate the doors with. She had him cornered. He was trapped in here with her... She was about to not like him due to that one simple fact. He looked back to her and silently snarled, openly defying the powerful entity despite his growing terror.

She screamed again, this time flaring bright green with soulfire as she pulled other, lesser Hive units to the room out of nowhere. Acolytes and the expected thrall, and two knights with swords.

Schade's response was an immediate triggering of his arc blades, and the room was suddenly bright.

"Engage, engage!" Meteor growled as he opened fire on her from the side.

Trish cursed as she began unloading her hand cannon onto the entity's face.

Omnigul reeled momentarily from the sudden assault, eliciting another terrible wail as she bade her units to attack. Her shields took the brunt of the damage, but as she looked up to see the arc-laden hellion leaping after her, she knew her shields wouldn't defend her from that. She leaned back as Schade launched himself at her, folding into the darkness not a moment too soon.

Schade's blades snapped at nothing as he struck the space where Omnigul had just been. She had warped away from him, and he had no idea where she had gone. He landed on the wall and succinctly sprung from it into the rest of the Hive units, eager to have his blades cut into _something._ He slashed through two acolytes and four thrall before he turned his attention to one of the sword knights.

Trish grinned behind her helmet. "If that old hag thinks ditching her cronies with us will do the trick, she's got a lot to learn!"

Meteor ducked as his nerves alerted him to the feeling that they were nowhere near done. He turned to see the appearance of another wizard, smaller and nowhere near as powerful, but dangerous in its own right. It reached into the dark and a circle of green light appeared on the ground before it, bringing forth a handful of more acolytes. "Yeah, but that old hag's got a lot o' cronies..."

Schade sprung from the knight as he dealt it a fatal blow, disengaging just as his super ran out. The room returned to darkness, though now it was lit by a fiendish green from the floor. There was another wizard floating around making circles of intricate Hive markings written in soulfire, and they seemed to be lingering where it put them. As he put a bit of distance between him and the firing range of the enemy, he felt a pull on his mind. An over bearing call that pulled his attention away from the fight. He spun his gaze around to see the greater wizard hovering behind the glass of the observation room, her claws woven together patiently as she stared him down.

Ori pinged him in the back of his mind. _You have her undivided attention again,_ he explained nervously. _I can heal you, but she's somehow managed to block transmat down here... I can't get you out if things get out of hand. _When he didn't get a response, he pinged him again. _You need to focus... Calm down. I can sense her reaching into your mind. Fight it. You don't belong to her._

With no small effort, Schade brought himself back to his own senses, realizing he'd been standing still for more than a few seconds. _Movement is life, _he reminded himself. He steadied himself with a breath and dragged his attention back to his immediate surroundings, finding the second knight already charging him. A small curse and he spun away from the blade coming down at him, narrowly missing the strike as acolyte shots glanced off of his shields. A double-jump and he was clear of the immediate threat, but found himself herded toward the other wizard. His breath hitched briefly as he dodged half of the explosive shots of energy from the wizard, but his shields detonated and it nearly took him off his feet. It was all he could do to make a risky dodge directly under the wizard and get to cover a short ways behind it. He grimaced as he held his shoulder, instinctively holding the wound before Ori emerged to heal it. "Well, this isn't going well..."

"There's more comin'," Meteor announced as a second wizard emerged onto the field, bringing about more burning green circles. "They're drawn to you again, friend."

"What'd you do to piss them off this bad?!" Trish was doing her best to take out every thrall she saw, lobbing knives and taking cannon shots.

Schade offered a grim laugh, his tension evident. "I survived..."

Ori was there regardless. "Don't let her in," he said quietly from just in front of him. "I see what she's doing... You're right, she's definitely done something to you. Whatever she's done, she's here now to finish the job. We're not about to let her... _I'm_ not about to let her."

It was difficult to focus on anything. Even Ori, his one guiding light in the universe, was difficult to follow. His heart rate was through the roof and his thoughts were absolutely everywhere but here. Looking down at Ori, he could see just how much conviction the ghost had. It was almost painful to concentrate, but he had always been his ground. He could reach for that again. As he was about to respond, green light erupted from beneath him. He managed to roll out of it right as his shields failed again, finding himself within striking range of another knight. Again.

"Not this time!" Meteor dashed into view with a violent shoulder charge, sending the knight flying to the side in a tangle of arc light. "Not doin' so hot, are ye, friend?" He backed up to Schade in a defensive position as the hunter tried to regain some control. He readied his shotgun and seemed to lean forward, openly threatening the Hive around them. "I got yer back..."

"I appreciate that," he said tensely as he regained shields. If he was human, he was sure he'd be pale and sweating right now. He breathlessly readied his rifle and dared a glance at the glass above, finding Omnigul's glaring green eyes staring gleefully back at him. She was damn near controlling his movements by this point. It was blatantly nauseating to resist. "God damn it..."

Meteor had glanced back long enough to see what was going on. "Trish, we gotta find a way t'get that monster out in the open where we can get at 'er."

The other hunter, now springing toward them over a railing, was becoming aware of the situation. She drew up as close as a burning circle would allow, then turned back to cover behind a defunct door access. "That would be great, but she seems perfectly comfortable holed up in her little nest while these shits do all the work," she spat as she gestured to the two wizards making the room just that much more inhospitable.

"Then we force 'er out," the titan growled. "Take out all the little guys, leave 'er no choice but t'come out and handle us herself."

Trish shot him a look. "You think that'll work?"

"That, or we run outta floor," he said with a gesture to the growing number of flaming circles.

At the sight of more incoming Hive, Trish readied a flaming knife. "Sounds like as good a plan as any... Let's just hope more violence does it."

Meteor loudly racked his weapon, shoulders bearing forward like a ready predator. "Oh, I _always_ resort to violence..."

The two charged forward, doing their best to take control of the situation while Schade pulled his senses back to him once more. He focused forward, watching arc and solar grenades fly around the room with the usual Hive weapons in tow. He could sense Ori pinging him, but just couldn't seem to focus on his voice. There was too much noise... And _burning._ He felt as though his skull was on fire.

_ You are not meant to fight us..._

The voice caught him so off guard, he actually flinched. He turned his gaze back to the glass, seeing Omnigul once more. Her eyes were all he could focus on, and he knew the voice was unmistakably hers.

_ You're failing them... Again._

He hadn't even known. It was a voice he'd heard for years, plaguing his sleep with the same words over and over. His jaw clenched as his grip tightened around his rifle. She had meant to discourage him... All it did was enrage him. "...Oh, you _bitch..."_

At the appearance of another sword knight in his nearby peripheral, he attempted the opposite of everything he was thinking. Instead of dodging away from the sword, he dove right into the strike. The blade narrowly missed him by inches, swooping under his belly before he rolled to his feet behind the knight. His borderline hijacked mind told him to retreat again, so he unloaded as many rounds as he could into the back of the knight's helmet until it dropped.

"You back in the game, boss?" Trish called to him over comms immediately after popping a few thrall heads.

He was unsteady, but he'd found a trend at least. "Think so..." Another circle spawned under his boots. He dove left instead of right, and the wizard who spawned it had to readjust to follow him.

_ Your survival is... Only temporary._

"Shut the fuck up!" He lobbed a throwing knife at the glass so hard, it actually dinged the surface. He seethed as he tried to move from target to target, feeling his focus slipping as time went on. He could no longer make sense of Ori's voice in his mind. He looked up to Omnigul to see her grinning...

Trish heard something explode and looked over to see Meteor motionless on the ground, his ghost trying to rez him without getting shot. She cursed and ran to him, sharing some light with Lily to rez him faster. "What happened to you?"

Meteor sat up with a grunt. "Uh... The thrall explode when you punch 'em now."

"They _what?"_

"They explode!" He got to his feet and drew his rifle toward a thrall, but it was glowing green and hissing ominously. When he shot it, it certainly did explode.

Trish was about to curse again when a blast of soulfire ripped through their shields, sending them both scrambling in different directions as they tried to get up away from the flames. "Oh, this floor-is-lava game is bullshit!"

Meteor now found himself changing his whole method of engagement now that there were living bombs in play. "Wouldn't be so bad if they'd quit changin' the rules on us. This is getting ridiculous..."

Suddenly, the music had returned with a fortissimo strike through the air. Rasputin had partially returned power to the bunker, some light returning with the sound.

** Сосредоточиться.**

Schade almost flinched at the sound of yet another voice. This time, it was less invasive. It didn't drill into his mind as Omnigul's did, it... Beckoned. Guided him to listen.

"The hell was that?" Trish gawked upwards to the ceiling.

Meteor was just as surprised. "Was that Rasputin...?"

"A godlike machine, and it picks _now_ to play a symphony over the loudspeakers?!"

Schade was relieved to see others reacting to the voice, grateful it wasn't just in his head.

** Ваши ноги будут направлять вас.**

He felt a welcome distraction, focusing instead on the music. It was familiar to him, and somehow managed to completely override Omnigul's horrible noise. Before he realized it, he was already moving with the song. Omnigul was still there, he knew, but she no longer mattered. Only the steps mattered. He tread the notes like an old walking path, striding through each target with considerable ease and tricking the explosive enemies into self-destructing without hurting himself.

Meteor blasted a shotgun hole through an acolyte's chest and turned in time to see Schade spring up from a railing and slash open a wizard's throat with his knife, spinning gracefully with the swirl of his cloak. "There 'e is!" He laughed. "Good t'have ye back!"

"Meteor, we got trouble!"

He heeded Lily's warning without hesitation, turning to see Trish spring out of the way of something... Huge. He approached the other hunter and rounded cover enough to see what it was, then immediately started walking back a few steps. "Oooooh, boy... Schade? We're gonna need a little help here, friend..."

Schade glanced up to see Omnigul's face. She was no longer smiling, and that alone made him feel better. Though the moment he looked down to a large movement on the floor, his gut knotted.

Ori buzzed fearfully. "Ogre! She summoned an ogre?! In _here?!"_

The hulking beast thumped with rattling chains around the room, hardly able to maneuver for its size. The moment it saw Schade, it let loose a bone-rattling roar as the conglomerate pustules that made up its face began to glow a pale and foreboding purple.

He barely had the time to get out of the way as a powerful and uneven beam rent the space between them, searing the surfaces of everything it hit along the way. He forced himself to keep his focus on the music, having found more success this way than any other he'd tried. "Meteor, you still got that rocket launcher, big guy?"

"Just tell me the plan, I gotcha." The titan glided over a couple circles of soulfire as he holstered his shotgun and pulled out his rocket launcher without question.

"Get it ready," he said as he sprinted from one bit of cover to another. "Trish, you got a golden gun?"

She was behind a crate, reloading her last few rounds of hand cannon ammo. "I've been regretting saving it, but now that you ask, yeah."

The ogre bellowed a hellish beam once more as Schade hopped out of cover and onto a railing, deftly maneuvering the narrow foothold and drawing the monstrosity's fire away from the others. "Gonna need you to unload on that upper structure near the ceiling. You've got three shots to take out those cables and break the structure loose."

"What?!"

Schade ignored her outburst, using a crescendo in the music to help him dodge his way between the ogre's beam and a meandering group of glowing thrall. "Meteor, when I tell you, you take the shot with your rocket."

"No problem!"

"Right at me."

"...What?!"

He swiveled to dispatch a knight that was being a nuisance, forcefully lobbing a knife through its center eye before returning to his dance of agility. "This is going to work. Just trust me here."

"I've never not," Meteor said, then went stern. "But you'd _better_ be quick on yer feet, boy..."

"Trial by fire, huh?" Trish said as she spun the wheel on her hand cannon. "I won't let you down. I made that promise."

The ogre charged around the structure, and Schade played a small game of ring around the rosie with it before hopping up to the catwalk railing. "Alright, then now's the time. Trish, lead on," he said as he hopped down to the floor, a couple explosive thrall close behind him.

"You asked for it." Trish reached into the Light and summoned the golden gun, then took aim at one of the four columns of dense cables. She grimaced at it momentarily, trying to decide where to hit them. "Break it loose," she mumbled to herself, then she aimed toward the main connecting structure instead of individual cable couplings. She let out a breath and squeezed the trigger, sending all three shots into the seams of the structure's shell.

Schade stayed uncomfortably close to the ogre, playing a rather deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the enormous creature as more glowing thrall began to gather around the floor. He hadn't attacked a single one, carefully keeping his dance at just the right distance to keep any of them from going off. Even as solar sparks fell from the ceiling, he kept his focus on the music and just how close he needed to be for this to work. He spun away from the ogre's fists and saw the conical structure begin to shudder in one particular direction. Schade danced to the side with a studied grace. "Now, Meteor!"

The titan had been following him with his reticle the whole time, tense on the trigger with anticipation. The moment he heard the command, he held his breath and squeezed the trigger. Schade was near the bottom of the structure with the explosive thrall when the rocket was loosed, but quickly managed to evade the strike.

For where the rocket struck, it drove its damage directly where it needed to be. He never would have known where Trish's shots broke the housing until the ogre knocked it loose, so having the rocket follow his boots was the best answer he could find. As the rocket detonated all the explosive thrall milling about the structure's base, he sprung up around the ogre's neck and drove his knife in, swinging his legs around it like he had done to the hydra from before. Disoriented by the explosion and the slice around its neck, the ogre couldn't track Schade when he had gotten on top of it and hopped upwards to the final remaining cable. The small hunter had just enough weight to topple the failing structure, sending it buckling down on top of the ogre and crushing its spine. For the weight of the thing, the impact sent it against the wall, shattering the glass where Omnigul watched in sudden horror as her plans had gone so thoroughly wrong so quickly.

Schade dismounted the cables as they swung free, gracefully rolling to his feet just across the room from the last remaining Hive. The music fell silent and he stared up at Omnigul, no longer feeling fear, but fury. It had been _her_ influence in his night terrors for the last eight years, and he wasn't soon to forget that.

The infernal witch glared back at the hunter, outraged and hissing at the idea of what had just happened. Her claws balled into fists and she drew a rasping breath, then let out a most hellish screech as she summoned the darkness around her, folding into it and disappearing like a cloth being drawn through a hole. Within seconds, the power kicked back on in the bunker and lights illuminated the room as the circles of soulfire petered out of existence.

"Yeah!" Meteor jumped up with his fists in the air, breaking the silence. "That was awesome!"

Trish came walking over from her spot, joining the titan at the terminal. "I can't believe that actually worked..."

Schade stared furiously at the broken window for some time, hands still balled into fists. After a time, he shoved his knife roughly back into its sheath and joined the others.

"I can't believe it!" Meteor was overly excited about something. "Rasputin not only called us for help, but knew we were in trouble, and actually _talked_ to ye?!" He laughed putting his hands on Schade's shoulders as he approached. "He must think yer somethin' special!"

"I just... Can't believe that worked," Trish reiterated with a loose gesture to the toppled structure on top of the ogre. "Hope he's not too angry about what we did to him... Speaking of angry, what's your deal? That was perfect."

Schade had been scowling the whole time, but let out a sigh and removed Meteor's hands from his shoulders. "She ran," he seethed. "All these years, she's the one who's been in my head, and she just fucking ran..."

Meteor calmed considerably. "Ah, so _that's_ what this's all about..." He nodded and put his hands on his hips, squaring up to the much smaller guardian. "Ye'll get yer chance. If'n she ran, she's scared of ye... Use that."

Trish approached a bit closer, having been fiddling with her wheel again. "Hey, if you ever need someone to help you burn down the Hive, I'm your girl right here." Though she was wearing her helmet, her crooked smile was evident in the way she leaned when she holstered her cannon.

Meteor had put his hand on Schade's shoulder, leaning down a bit to look him in the eye. "Y'got backup now, friend... Yer not goin' about this alone ever again. That's what we're here for."

Schade stared at them, his rage seeming to melt away. The exchange had caught him completely by surprise and he had no idea how to react, and it showed. He could tell they were sincere and it floored him. He let out a single laugh, head dipping down a bit. "Thanks... Both of you..." As Ori materialized next to him, prompting the same from the other ghosts, he actually smiled. "...All of you."

Meteor returned to his boisterous self almost instantly. "Hell, s'what fireteams are for! And we're the _best!"_

Trish snorted. "Hey, you died out there, don't forget that."

"Just once!"

Schade actually chuckled. "...And where do you get off calling me 'boy,' by the way? I'm not that young."

Meteor turned a goofy chuckle his way. "Young enough to ask a striker titan for a bubble..."

When Trish laughed, he turned genuine confusion his way. "Wait, the bubble is a different Light element? It's not arc?"

"No, it's void!"

Schade made the universal confused gesture with his hands. "W-...? Then _how?_ How did you switch your subclass in the middle of a firefight and still have enough Light to cast a super?"

"Hey yeah, now he's got me curious."

Meteor laughed. "O, that's my secret to keep..."

"Oh, come on..."

Lily giggled. "Okay, let's get out of here. We've got some explaining to do about this bunker..."

Tigger turned to see the sparking tech and grimaced. "Yeah, not looking forward to that..."

Ori's shell-made smile faded rather quickly. "Huh... Strange..."

"What's wrong, bud?" Schade tilted his hood at him.

"It was fine just a second ago... I just tried to function a transmat but I..." He thought about this for a moment, then his eye narrowed to a point and he turned quickly to face him. "I'm _blocked_ from transmatting–"

The air pressure suddenly changed and the sound of screeching metal caught their ears. Meteor went weapons hot at the same time Schade turned around to see Omnigul lunging through a Hive portal at him. Before any of them could react, she had reached out and grabbed him by the throat, claws digging in deep as she lifted him from the ground. She wasn't finished with him yet.

Meteor unloaded as much of his rifle as he could into the demon's helmet, joined only by Trish as Schade instinctively kicked at the air in an attempt to free himself. He had drawn his knife and jammed it into her arm, and her response was a horrid, ear-twisting string of incantations. The ghosts had phased back to their respective guardians, all now unable to transmat them away from the immediate threat as Omnigul appeared to try and rip the Light out of Schade.

Caught somewhere between sheer panic and unbridled rage, arc energies snapped and twisted from Schade's form as he triggered a second super. Omnigul's incantations stopped and she tried to drop the unleashed hunter, but he held fast and blindly attacked, her arm mangling all the way up to her shoulder in the process. Her only reaction was to summon a portal and try to escape. The moment the darkness appeared, Schade's light overwhelmed it, and the result was a wildly uneven scattering of energies that sent Trish and Meteor to the ground. Silence ensued... They were gone.

Meteor hurried to his feet, looking around the bunker for any sign of them. Trish looked as well, but they only ended up staring at each other. It had happened so quickly, neither of them were sure what had just happened...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- This chapter was... Exhausting to write. If not from all the weird translations, then for the sheer amount of tension Schade felt in the face of his years-long tormenter... I feel that tension, yo.
> 
> \- We learn a lot about exo biology here... Or at least, how I see it. The grinders thing is canon, but I just added those little crabby fronds in their mouths for fun. The idea of an exo flaring their fronds out being the equivalent of the human gesture of sticking your tongue out just struck me as far too funny to leave alone.
> 
> \- Meteor is an old guardian! He may not have been around for the building of the wall, but this was an information drop that caught a couple of my workplace readers off-guard. :] He's also got MANY more secrets, but I'm afraid we won't get to see many more unfold in this story... Next arc. >;]
> 
> \- The promise Schade makes to Ori here is actually one that will be remembered throughout the whole series. In fact, many things mentioned here will be referenced again and again as we go on through D1 and D2. You'd do well to remember some of these things, as even some inane phrases become of vital import later on... On that same note, we learn here that Schade idolizes Cayde in a way. He envies his skill and aspires to be that good one day.
> 
> \- I actually had to look up the translations of what Rasputin was saying through the beacons... Some of the stuff the old Tyrant says is actually pretty sad, but I just picked an interesting line there. Makes me think he knows what's coming down Bungie's roadmap...
> 
> \- Trish had Schade nailed when she said he was a dancer. He truly is, and somehow, Rasputin knows this and can calm him down with music he knows... HMMMMMMMM...
> 
> \- I have finally decided on a headcanon voice for Trish. After watching a few of her interactions and knowing what her future is, Trish's voice is actually a perfect match with Michelle Rodriguez. Love her, she is a precious fireball.
> 
> \- As a fun fact about yours truly, there was a time back in D1 where I actually DID think the bubble was part of the arc titan class... Don't judge me. We were all new to the game then. lol
> 
> \- It is WAY past my bedtime...


	9. Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even predators can be wounded, and sometimes, all that's needed to heal is another who knows the wound. However, a moment's respite can only last so long. When does the calm end, and the storm begin...?

**Breath**

Meteor hadn't said much of anything the whole flight back. After pinging Tower Control, he manually piloted the ship into the landing bay instead of letting Lily do it. He guided the ship in and hovered carefully over the landing locks, lowering until his gear clunked into place. As his engines hummed down, he flipped a few switches and proceeded to stare at his control board, thoughts overtaking his expression for the third time today.

"It'll be okay," Lily said from just over his shoulder. "He's a tough little guy."

He was frowning. He let out a sigh and tried to relax. "I know. I know... He's probly just hidin', is all. Don't like the thought o' that..."

The cockpit opened and he leaned out, swinging his legs over and dropping to the floor with a heavy thump. He hadn't taken three steps before he saw Trish jogging up to meet him. "Any sign of him?" She hadn't even fully approached yet before asking.

Meteor frowned and shook his head. "I was hopin' you'd have found somethin'."

Trish sighed and put her hands on her hips. Outwardly, it was a pose of frustration, but the worry behind it was evident. "It's been almost two weeks. We must've been all over the Cosmodrome by now. I even found caves I didn't know existed... Where could he possibly be?"

Meteor crossed his arms over his chest, gaze distant. "Isolation ain't good for minds like that. Brings out the worst in us." He paused for almost a full minute. "Maybe he's not in the Cosmodrome... I'm gonna go circle in orbit. He might just be in his ship," he said as he already started to double back.

"No, hang on," Trish said as she grabbed him by the edge of his greaves. "You know how low-profile his ship is, you'd never pick it up on scanners. Searching in orbit would take months..."

Meteor made a face, his worry visible now as they had their helmets off. "If I had hair, I swear, that boy's gonna make it grey..."

Trish gave him a sympathetic look before giving him a pat on the arm. "Just gotta believe he's okay... He's smart. I hear he goes out on months-long patrols just to feel the wild... He's gotta be fine out there. Probably just taking time to himself, you know?" When Meteor only nodded in response, she leaned forward to look up at his downcast gaze. "For a guy who helps broken guardians a lot, you sure seem worried about this one. I thought you said they do this sometimes?"

He smirked and crossed his arms again, his gaze still tiredly wandering. "Yeah, they do. Seen it a lot, just... Not lately, y'know? Been a while since I... Really had a fireteam that... Sticks together." His voice was rather uncertain, as if he wasn't sure if he should be speaking such things. He was terribly obvious. "I'm normally a lil' better about this..."

"We're special, huh?" She smiled just a bit, searching him. "You're really afraid of losing him out there, aren't you?"

The massive exo was silent, but the look he suddenly pinned on her spoke volumes. His gaze pierced her like daggers, as if she'd found a chink in his armour and jabbed at it. She had found a fear. His jaw shifted once he caught himself and he quietly breathed out the stress. "Yeah. Yeah, I am," he said with a nod. "Last fireteam I was with? First family I had? We got cornered in a ravine by a major Fallen detachment. Ripped to shreds overnight, all because they were goin' for the Hive and we were in the way. My own big sister died in my arms. S'not somethin' I'll soon forget. Fourteen years, three months, and two days ago." His weight shifted to his other boot. "Even though she was a warlock, she taught me what it meant to be a titan. That we're _defenders_ above all else. That we _protect_ what we care for, no matter what... It's what she reminded me with her last breath. N'that's what I do... So yeah, I'm afraid of losin' Schade. Or ye. Terrified, even. The thought of losin' either one of ye t'somethin' as bloody pointless as the Darkness puts me just a _little_ on edge."

Trish stared at him... That was a lot of honesty. She nodded sheepishly, regretting the comment already. "I, uh... I've never had a fireteam before, so... I guess I'm still learning how it all works," she said with a shrug. "Still a part of the 'new blood,' you know?"

Meteor took a breath, shuffling and ordering his mind like a stack of papers. "...It's a good thing, I promise," he said. "A real fireteam's the only family y'get as a guardian..." He fell silent for a short time, then seemed to straighten back toward his normal behaviour. "Come on," he said with a brotherly pat to her arm. "Let's go get some grub. It'll do good t'take off the grump."

Trish smiled a bit as she followed him, unable to help it for how infectious his own grin was. "Sure thing, big guy... Want to try that rice pudding I found?"

"Oh, I'd love to!"

Cayde was tapping at a corner of his PDA, having gone through so many field reports by this point that he had nearly caught up with the current quota... After being behind for several months. He read quickly through the messages starting a few days ago after his inbox had just become too cluttered with the old to find the new. It had taken him quite a while, but he had narrowed it down to only this week's reports at last. These are the ones he wanted. He was halfway down the screen when something small and round rolled into his PDA from Ikora's corner. "Yeeeeess...?"

The warlock gave him a soft look of concern. "It's not often I see you so focused, Cayde... Have you had any luck?"

He drew back from his screen with a smirk. "Not one bit... Which is weird. Luck is usually on my side, but I guess she's got other plans today."

"Ten days have passed," Eris explained as she entered the room, striding silently behind Ikora. "Either your young hunter is exceptionally good at hiding, or he has fallen to Omnigul as Sai Mota had... She is nothing to be trifled with."

Zavala straightened from his end of the table, finally joining the conversation. "According to reports we've received, Omnigul had been found limping her way through the Hidden Shore the day after the attack. From what my titans described, she was... Badly mangled."

Cayde offered a grim, raised-brow laugh without looking up from his corner. "Kid's nothing to screw around with either when you push him too far..."

Ikora looked to the Commander. "We should count our blessings Omnigul was so wounded by the time that fireteam found her. From what Eris describes, Schade's fireteam is incredibly lucky to have survived an encounter with her. The guardians who slew her traced her origins to the Hellmouth... They are awaiting clearance to enter, but are wondering if the others will be joining them."

The titan only smirked. "Find this Meteor-5 and Trish and send them with the others. The ambush from Omnigul was unprecidented, and those three held together well. But I have my reservations about that hunter... For as often as he drops off the radar, I would consider a more reliable guardian to lead the other two–"

Cayde had snapped his gaze up and was staring daggers at Zavala. "How 'bout I just go ahead and throw you in the middle of the Silent Fangs and see how you pan out, then? Or do we need to talk about Twilight Gap?" The sudden, rather threatening demeanor from the otherwise eccentric exo was nearly startling, causing everyone to stare at him without a word.

Of all of them, Eris was the one to break the tense silence. "He fears the Hive for good reason. I see many of my own experiences in his eyes... I cannot judge him. As Vanguard, _his_ Vanguard, you mustn't."

Zavala had been staring back at the exo, but pulled himself away from the dig at his own past and fears. Cayde was right, as much as he hated to admit. As was Eris. He drew a deep breath and rolled his neck a bit, considering his options. "Very well... No ships left the Cosmodrome for the twenty-four hours following the attack beyond the two belonging to his fireteam. He's out there somewhere. Send another scout team to find him."

Cayde shook his head and spoke quietly, almost to himself. "If he ain't coming out of hiding for his own fireteam, there's no way he's gonna show himself to a bunch of strangers..." He tapped on his PDA again in silent thought, then shut it down and started to walk away.

Zavala knitted his brow. "Where are you going now?"

"Lunch break," he said with a finger pointed up, turning his signature smile to the others before he strode from the room.

Zavala had opened his mouth to speak, but Ikora cut him off. "Before you waste your breath, I implore you to contemplate what words could possibly change his mind."

The titan had frozen with his mouth open, then let out a defeated sigh and simply returned to his reports. "I swear, these damn hunters..."

Cayde had already jogged up the few steps from the Vanguard office, happy to get away from the enclosed space for a bit. "So, Sundance," he said to his ghost as she phased into view and floated after him. "Guess we can start by pulling detection logs from the Cosmodrome. See if we can get a ping on that little fighter of his."

"It's chock full of jammers from what I can remember, and it has its own stealth drive... But I'll see what I can do," she chirped.

Cayde shook his head. "Keep forgetting how paranoid he is... Just do what you can. I'll pull up that report and backtrack Omnigul's tracks to see where she might've dragged him before that fireteam found her."

Sundance beeped quietly. "Got your maps on file for reference when you need them."

"I can make it easier on you both."

Cayde stopped in his tracks to see Lord Shaxx at his desk as he was walking past it. He squinted at him briefly. "Oh? Whatcha got for me, Biggy Talls?"

The titan folded his arms over his chest. "The Waking Ruins, Venus. He goes there to think. I've watched him do it for years now."

Cayde made a contemplative sound, almost in jest. "Spyin' on him, huh?"

Shaxx tilted his helmet a bit to the side. "I saw the sudden shift in his Light some years ago... I've been keeping a close eye on him ever since he came into the Crucible and violently shook it like a wild animal."

"Think he's trouble, or something?"

"I won't count out the possibility..." The Crucible handler stood in silence for just a moment before tilting his head up once more. "Look for him in a high place, away from any targets. He detaches from everything but his ghost when his mind is full."

Cayde pointed at him with both hands, already stepping away. "I owe you one, big guy." Without further hesitation, he went trotting the rest of the way down the hallway and up the stairs out to the courtyard.

"And for Traveler's sake, don't startle him unless you want to get stabbed," Shaxx called after him.

Cayde's only response was a brief wave over his shoulder seconds before he disappeared around the corner.

Maat Mons grumbled angrily in the distance. Periodically, it launched a fountain of sulphuric molten death into the sky, mingling the spray of brilliantly glowing blue with the ominous, toxic blanket of dark clouds that spanned the visible sky. Acid rained delicately from above, gradually changing the centuries-old Collective that spanned the Ishtar Region; buildings of shattered windows and leaning pillars loomed in vines, housing human history ad nauseum and built to withstand the unrelenting abuse of time. Exotic grasses and leafy plants flexed lazily in windless air, fanning spore-covered fronds and blooming in softly glowing shades of mint and mist. It was insufferably hot, and just as humid. The air tasted like batteries.

Amid the encroaching natural army of greens and reds was the secondary force of spreading order. Glinting in perfect angles, unbothered by the acidic atmosphere that zig-zagged down its hatch-lined surface, massive Vex structures loomed through the plant life. All squares and rectangles and glittering arc lasers, the machines' architecture moved and broke through soil and stone alike with no worry for the time, like an eons-long cancer slowly converting the planet from the inside out. It was here natural order met line to line with something completely unnatural, where chaos met pattern.

It was here Schade could think. He sat atop a massive block of Vex stone, staring out over the rust-orange sea at the neon blue flames miles away and miles higher. He had slept since his encounter in the Cosmodrome, but he looked exhausted nonetheless. His mind overflowed with endless questions. Who was Omnigul? Why did she leave the Hellmouth to track him down? What had she done to him? Despite these questions, his mind was quiet. He hadn't known what perfect silence of the mind sounded like until he attempted the final blow that broke her back and wrenched her arm free. He had torn her apart, and that's what it took to silence her screams in his head. It was... Liberating. His mind was free, his thoughts his own. His nightmares stopped thinking, creating, becoming new and intuitive. The few he had were nonsensical now, only sparsely resembling the terrible features he'd grown to fear. He must have killed her... But what then? Was he not finished with her death? This should have felt like an end, but it only felt like a wake; something else loomed just ahead, and he was only feeling the ripples. Something had only just begun... And that unsettled him.

He leaned his head back briefly to stare at the storm-black clouds above. It would rain soon, and he would need to find shelter. He looked down to Ori sitting quietly in his lap, light out and sleeping... Even ghosts needed rest every now and then. He could see the tiniest movements in his shell, little flicks of minute activity behind the coded-in motions that oddly mimicked breathing. He wondered what Ori dreamt of now, as their minds were often so connected that they shared thoughts. He traced his thumb gently across the edge of one of his antennae and quietly hoped his ghost was having a more peaceful time than him.

There was a whisper of mechanical workings and Ori's lens lit up once more, his shell slipping idly around his core as he woke from his nap. He looked up at his hunter and blinked. _Oh, are we ready to move?_

_ Not yet._

_ I see... Have you found your answers yet?_

His gaze shifted. _...Not yet._

They had been silent like this for days, speaking only with their thoughts. Schade had gone as far as damaging his vocal modulator during his face-off with his tormenter, nothing but storm and fury to her shrieking nothings. Ori had long since repaired it, but Schade had exhausted himself into silence. Neither of them seemed to care enough to change it.

_ Do you think you'll find the answers out here?_

Schade stared down at his ghost, calmly considering the question. He felt like it was more a statement than a query.

_ ...Either way, I'll be here with you when you figure it out._

Another statement... One that slowly began a smile from one corner of his mouth.

"Aha-!"

Already on edge, Ori phased away and Schade instantaneously whirled his blade at the voice behind him. Arc energies stretched with the lunge, bringing the blade within nanometers of Cayde's throat before Schade realized it was him.

"Woah, easy! Good guy!" He gestured to himself after he'd jerked away from the attack. "Jeeze, you're jumpy..."

Schade was almost panting from the startle, staring briefly before he sheathed his blade with a tense curse. "Fucksake, I almost cut your damn head off..."

"Yeah, no worries, that was my bad."

He let out a breath and relaxed a bit, Ori coming into view now that they've identified their disturbance. "How did you find me up here?"

Cayde moved to sit down and dangle his legs off the edge of the stone, already making himself comfortable. "I've got my sources... Well, source. One," he reassured with a glance to the younger exo. "And he's apparently really good at keeping secrets, because... Well, nevermind."

Schade made a face and stood next to him, watching him take out a small box from somewhere hidden. "And this source is...?"

"Mutual friend. Don't worry about it." He opened the little tin to reveal a bread bun, some slices of wrapped pork, and an orange. "...You gonna sit down?"

He stared for a moment at the paltry meal and couldn't help but give a little laugh before he moved to sit down next to his mentor. "You really left the Tower to have lunch? On _Venus?"_

"Certainly," he said as he split the bun with one of his knives and filled it with bits of pork.

Schade was actually smiling. "But... On Venus?" He reiterated. "You could have at least picked a planet with an atmosphere that would let bread taste good..."

"...Yea'm membrin' 'at ngow," the older hunter said awkwardly from around a bite of his sandwich. He forced the bite down and shook his head a bit. "Just shows, I got to get out of that damn Tower more often... But enough about me. What's got _you_ out here, kid?"

Schade frowned again, looking down over the edge of the stone where his boot was. "Just... Thinking."

"That's the obvious part," Cayde said as he picked up the orange from his lunch tin and looked it over. "What's the not-so-obvious part?"

A quiet crackle of thunder crawled across the clouds from miles away. Schade searched for words he felt comfortable sharing... In truth, there were none. "...Eight years ago, I, uh..." The drop from the stone to the ground suddenly seemed a lot deeper, and the memory of the bridge overtook the landscape for just a moment. He actually flinched. Any words that may have been waiting in his mind turned into a knot in his stomach, leaving him almost nauseous. His jaw locked and he could feel his hand tighten into a fist on his knee where it was propped...

"Take your time."

He looked over to see Cayde watching him, but the look on his face was different... He understood. For the first time, he found someone who was on the same page as him, and it was the man he idolized, just sitting there casually peeling an orange. He swallowed against the tension and tried to search for more words. "That wizard... Omnigul. She... She followed me. All the way from the Hellmouth. All because I..." He felt sick. "God, t-there were only _three_ of us..." He shook a bit, leaning his forehead on his wrist to keep from seeing what his mind was showing him below. "Why the _fuck_ did I think..."

Ori stared at him in disbelief. He had never spoken of this beyond early, grief-delirious mutterings between just the two of them. The struggle it was just to talk was visible in every tense inch of his guardian's body. It was obvious he was doing this because he felt he could. He _wanted_ to, as if finally acknowledging it with another person would help lift the weight even if just a little... And it made something at his core shrivel with guilt.

Cayde watched the younger hunter slowly lose his fight into silence. He stared at the titan mark on Schade's belt for some time before turning his gaze back to his orange, still slowly peeling the last bit of it. He let the silence continue for a moment or two before he spoke quietly. "The day I lost Andal Brask. I said before... Left me in a real dark place." He could feel Schade looking at him after a moment. He caught himself staring at the orange before he straightened his shoulders with a breath. "It was just a supply raid. Nothing special, nothing crazy... Until one of our teams was ambushed. Lost a guardian and two ghosts that night... Really upset Andal. We were both drinking the night we made the Dare. First one to kill Taniks gets to be a free man for the rest of his days. Loser gets to sit behind a desk as the hunter Vanguard. I thought I had that bastard dead and cold..." He paused long enough to give a grim laugh and shake his head. "Never hated being so wrong in all my lives."

Schade stared at him, enthralled. He knew of the hunter Vanguard that came before, but never had he dreamt of hearing the story from this close of a perspective... Seeing the shadows in his mentor's gaze made him almost not want to hear it.

Sundance phased into view and took a floating spot next to Ori, regarding her own hunter similarly as Ori had his. It seemed the moment their guardians were having was as rare for her as it was for him.

"I _swear_ I killed him... But he came back. Way too soon, he came back... And Andal paid the price. I'd failed, and it fell on my... On Andal to face the consequences." He went quiet and pulled a segment of the orange away from the whole, then another. "Didn't take me long to hunt down Taniks and try again..." He scoffed. "Mistake number two. I had nothin' to gain, just kept locked in on what I'd lost. Went in by myself, put a bunch of lead in Fallen heads, almost got killed in the process... Still don't know where his body went." He bounced the two pieces of orange in his hand before tossing them into his mouth. He was staring off at the sea the whole time, lost in thought as he continued. "So I wear the cloak... His cloak. You know how that goes, I take it," he said with a careful gesture to the mark.

Schade finally looked away from him, following the direction of his hand to his hip. Though he had taken incredible care of it, the mark had seen better days. It was unchanged since that night, thread for thread. He gently took a part of it in his hand just to feel it between his fingers. "...He was my brother," he explained distantly, then seemed to smile at a thought. "We were resurrected on the same morning, we learned... Even showed up on the Tower on the same day. We joked," he laughed, throat tight. "Even though we were the exact same age, he decided I was the 'little' brother because I was the short one... I loved it. Day one, we were in the same fireteam from that point on. Both stupid and lost and growing, never separated..." He thumbed the frayed edge of the mark in silence. Exos didn't have the luxury of tears, but their voices could shake all the same. "It's... N-not been the same without him..."

Cayde watched him stare down at nothing, seeing himself all those years ago. It was the exact same face. "...You know," he started quietly, peeling off another piece of orange. "It was Zavala and Ikora who got me out of that pit. My own personal hell. They were right there the whole time, whether I wanted it or not." He ate the piece and started splitting the rest in his hands. "They annoyed me... Ikora was the worst. She didn't even try to hide the fact that she was trying to get me to talk about it. I tried everything to get her off my back, but she only spent even _more_ time with me. Then one night, Zavala invited me to have a couple drinks... Bet you didn't know the man drinks, huh?" He half-smiled before continuing. "So I took him up on it... Ended up telling him everything. Not gonna lie, it got pretty emotional. But then I realized... They were both in on it. They both worked together to pull me out of the dark, and by the time I noticed it, we were already really close. Took me five years to get to that point. Probably never would've happened at all if they weren't there for me... Your fireteam's your family," he said with a warm gaze cast to his younger counterpart. He offered a small laugh. "And yours has been tearing apart the Cosmodrome looking for you."

Schade only deepened his frown. "I did just disappear on them again, didn't I...?"

"Yeah, they're pretty worried," came the blunt reply. He was chewing on another piece of orange when he peeled off half of what he had left and held it out for Schade to take. "They're there for you, y'know... Just gotta let 'em in."

He stared at the orange slices for several seconds. He had never told anyone about what happened down there. Maybe someday, he would have the spine to talk about it again. He let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. "...Thanks for listening," he managed quietly as he took the segmented fruit and nibbled at a piece of it.

Cayde smiled. "Thanks for talking," he added, then took another piece of orange and stared out toward the volcano.

For a time, neither of them said anything. They only shared their snack and stared out over the rusty ocean to Maat Mons's azure flames as they illuminated the plume of sulphuric smoke billowing from its peak. In the time they had spoken, the sun had dipped lower in the sky, illuminating their plates with various warm neons cast from lateral holes in the dense clouds. Despite it all, it was inarguably beautiful.

"...Oranges taste _freakishly_ good out here."

"I was just thinking that."

Ori watched his guardian finally loosen up... After eight years, he finally told someone. For all the brooding, all the pining, the arguing, the seemingly ceaseless regret... At long last, he spoke the words to someone. He had been at his side all these years, learning and regretting right along with him, and now he wondered where they would have been if Cayde had found them sooner... Could he have possibly been more honest with him, then?

Sundance suddenly buzzed, gingerly floating forward. "Uh, boss? We got a message from Zavala..."

"Oh?" He looked back, downing the last piece of orange he had. "Is he mad I left? Because I don't care."

"It's a little different than that," she explained with a nervous chitter. "You remember that fireteam waiting _so patiently_ for confirmation to enter the Hellmouth...?"

"Someone is trying the Hellmouth?" Schade turned a look of alarm to the hunter Vanguard.

Cayde's face suddenly lost all humour. "Tell me they didn't..."

The ghost seemed to draw in a bit as she looked away. "They're at the Tower... Out of the seven, there's only three of them, and only two have ghosts..."

The Tower was alight with activity. On any normal day, this would be a good thing. However, there was an unease to the movement that made everyone a bit leery. The courtyard was where everything was happening, with guardians beginning to gather around in a small group. Three were at the center, and one was hysterical.

"Ollie? Where is he? Ollie?!"

"Calm down, man, get a hold of yourself..."

"We lost the others, and he's concerned about Ollie...?"

"Y-you said he was right behind us! Where is he?!"

Other guardians milled around them, some out of curiosity and some with genuine concern. A part of the latter, Meteor had pushed his way through the crowd and was doing his best to calm down the increasingly more frantic warlock.

Trish was jogging up after him. "What happened here? What's going on?"

Another hunter next to her shrugged. "I dunno, these three just transmatted in like their ghosts straight-up dropped them out of their ships..."

A warlock dared to get closer to the ragged fireteam. "Why is that guardian still injured? Where did you come from?"

The titan among them spoke up, almost seeming out of breath. "...Hellmouth," he said with a touch of detachment, causing a murmur all around him. Despite seeming to be in shock, he seemed the most lucid of the three. The hunter behind him cradled her own ghost, which seemed to barely be alive, while the warlock remained frantic. "We were in the Hellmouth... There were seven of us..."

The whispers began.

"They escaped that pit?"

"They're insane!"

"Where are the others...?"

"Someone needs to tell the Vanguard."

"You..." The warlock of the three hissed at the titan, their apparent fireteam leader. "This was _your _idea... You _lied_ _to us!"_ Void energies sparked from his arms as he lunged at the titan, but another, much larger one stopped him.

_ "ENOUGH,"_ Meteor growled with a shocking amount of command as he yanked the man around by the arms like a ragdoll, putting himself between him and the other titan. When he spoke again, he was much quieter after having pulled the startled warlock around to face him. "That's yer fireteam, boy..."

The warlock was to the point of tears, taking a hold of the giant exo's arms where he could reach them. "T-they've got my ghost... They took my _ghost_, Meteor..."

"I know, I know, take a breath..."

Trish blinked. "You know this guardian...?"

"The _hell _is going on here?"

The mass turned to face Cayde as he strode into the courtyard from the hangar, his typical smile missing. Instead, his sharp gaze took on an air of authority that made everyone reflexively step aside to let him through. Following close behind him was Schade, the much younger hunter's expression already worried before he had fully stepped into the area.

"It's a returning fireteam from the Hellmouth, sir," came the voice of a hunter in the crowd. "They said there were seven of them–"

"I know about _them_," came the hunter Vanguard's response as Zavala and Ikora finally appeared as well. "What I'm confused about is why y'all're just standing there..."

With a single glare, many of the guardians began to dissipate. The shellshocked warlock collapsed with a sob with Meteor carefully lowering him to his knees. The titan of the three turned to see Zavala, and he did his best to square himself. "Commander... This is my fault," he said as his two remaining fireteam members held a broken silence. "I rushed down without authorization... My fireteam followed after me–"

"I don't care whose fault it was, I want this fixed," came the Vanguard Commander's firm response. "Where are the others?"

"D-dead, sir... Final deaths."

"Did you recover their bodies?"

"No, sir..."

"Then they're not dead." Zavala turned to the frame manning the mission board nearby. "Open bounty. I need more rescue teams to the Hellmouth, and I need them now."

While the Vanguards each saw to the three guardians, Trish shook her head and approached Schade, who was staring hard at the warlock. "You okay?" Her voice was quiet, hoping to not attract any attention their way. "That thing grabbed you and just... Disappeared. We thought the worst, man... Where've you been?"

Schade finally pried his eyes away to look at her. "...Hiding, admittedly," he said with no small amount of disappointment in his tone. "Thought that's what I needed to do... Turns out, I was dead wrong. Always have been, when it comes to that." He turned again, this time to watch Meteor as the titan continued talking quietly to the sobbing warlock. He was patient even as the warlock leaned forward and shook unintelligible words into his chest armour. "I'm done disappearing on you guys like that. It's a mistake I don't plan on making again..."

Trish watched him for a moment, seeing a different gleam in his eyes as he spoke. Even his tone was different. She remembered who he walked in with, looking now to Cayde as the hunter Vanguard waved his hand in front of the other hunter to break her hollow stare from her near-dead ghost. He said something to her and directed her toward the Speaker, then turned to the others as she walked off. He shared only the briefest glance with Schade before moving past the rest of the Vanguard, earning a look of scorn from Zavala on his way back to the office.

Ikora was speaking to Meteor for a moment about the warlock, who was still visibly shaken from whatever they'd just gone through. The titan was actually reluctant to turn him over to her, hesitating a moment before rising to his feet. It seemed the only reason he had let the young man go was because Ikora was, in turn, being as gentle as he was. Still, he sobbed as Ikora led him away, careful of his lingering injuries as they walked out of the courtyard and toward the infirmary. "The Hive have my ghost... That's my ghost. He's d-down there by himself! H-he needs me!"

_ We can't just leave him there!_

Schade's reactor hitched as the cries from the present began to overlap with his own voice from the past. He felt the warlock's pain as his own. It was the same. From somewhere in the back of his mind, beyond the lucid memories that flooded him, he could sense Ori's energy as clear as the Light...

"I'm responsible for this, sir," the titan had said, seeming a bit more composed now. "As it was my order that caused this, I am... Requesting permission to amend my mistakes."

Zavala seemed ready to have this mess over with. "Is your ghost fit?"

The titan nodded solemnly as his companion phased into view, a bit worse for wear but overall undamaged. "We can still fight, sir..."

"Then I suggest you get to the board and rescue your teammates." Zavala's scowl held all the stronger as he turned to walk down the stairs back into the office, likely to have a stern conversation with Cayde for leaving largely unannounced.

The titan stood there for almost a full minute before he let out a breath and started walking to the board to claim a rescue bounty.

Meteor sighed as Trish neared him, staring off at the warlock as they disappeared around a corner. "Took years to get him back in the field," he grumbled in frustration.

Trish looked up at him. "He sounded like he knew you... Old friend of yours?"

He nodded. "Ye could say that... Think I mentioned him once. The one rezzed in a warzone, scared of dyin', real jumpy..."

"That was him?" She frowned. "Man... I'm sorry. Seems like we're gonna have to help with this one, huh Scha–?" She turned around to find the other hunter, but couldn't see where he'd gone past the milling guardians. She bounced her arms briefly. "Oh now where'd he go?"

Meteor tilted his head at her. "What? Who?"

"Schade!"

"Schade was here?" The titan peered around, searching as well. He was so focused on the warlock, he hadn't even noticed what was going on elsewhere.

"Yeah, he walked in with the Vanguard!" She shook her head as she followed Meteor to the mission board. "And he just said he was gonna try to stop disappearing like that..."

Meteor had walked up to the other titan when he had hesitated at the board. "Somethin' wrong there, friend?"

The awoken man only frowned, peering at the collection of missions before him. His hand was hovering oddly, as if he was making second guesses. Amid all the orange bounties for rescues, there was a single red tag among the lines. He was caught staring at it. "This isn't a rescue mission... Someone just posted an all-out raid."

Trish blinked. "A raid...?"

The stranger nodded. "A large fireteam goes down in an all-or-nothing fight. It's... It's directed at Crota, in the center of the Hellmouth..."

"An assassination contract?" Meteor had drawn up closer to see.

"A declaration of war..." The other titan stared at it for a while before tapping it, adding his name under the fireteam leader's before walking off.

Trish smirked. "I guess that's one way to solve a problem... But who'd be crazy enough to post a raid after all those guardians just went missing in one go?"

Meteor drew up to the red banner, spying the two names on it... He tensed, eyes wide. "It... It's Schade."

Trish blinked. "Huh...?"

"Schade is... Spearheading a raid into the Hellmouth..." He stared for a moment longer before Lily interrupted his thoughts.

"I just... Got a forwarded message from Ori," she said without phasing into view.

"Me too," Tigger chirped shyly over their local comms. "It's from Schade. He says... For both of you to meet him in Lunar orbit in four hours..."

Meteor squinted, then turned searching eyes to the dispersing groups of guardians. He looked up to the left to see the familiar Cloudwalker's Tribute cloak swaying with Schade's stride as the hunter strode into the hangar, gloved hands balled into determined fists.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Despite Meteor being as stalwart as he is, there is a reason behind why he does what he does, and that reason is also trauma. Some people react differently to it, just as Lily said, and while Schade's response was to go catatonic and paranoid, Meteor's response was simply "FIX IT." Like anyone with these issues, though, he doesn't appreciate old wounds being poked at and responds to it as defensively as you might expect.
> 
> \- Maat Mons is an actual mountain in the Ishtar Region on Venus... And the Ishtar Region actually exists. On Venus. That mountain you see in the skybox all the time? That's Maat Mons. Got to love Bungie for including the actual layout of a real planet. <3
> 
> \- After rewatching many of the D1 representations of Cayde and comparing them to the D2 scenes, it's pretty easy to see why Bungie shallowed him out into a freewheeling comedian... He would have stolen the show. lol It's easy to forget just how badass he was back in the day, and just how straight-up terrifying he can be when he gets serious about something. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to turn Cayde into a broody murder machine for this story, but I do intend on toning down a little bit of the goofiness, or at least reminding people of who he is.
> 
> \- The warlock who lost his ghost here is referenced in the previous chapter. The big guy gets so tuned into whoever he's helping, he often forgets what's going on around him. Meteor has helped a lot of guardians, and they'll all remember him fondly when they see him. He's done a lot to help other guardians, and that's not something any of them will forget any time soon...
> 
> \- Look at you go, Schade. Confronting your fears like a good man. You go, robo. <3


	10. Dive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fear and uncertainty are the enemies of survival. To continue, Schade faces both in force. When a face from the past resurfaces, will he have what it takes to conquer his fears and face his future with confidence? Or is he doomed to repeat his mistakes again?

**Dive**

It hadn't taken him long to fall asleep in his ship. He was surprised, honestly. For what he was getting ready to do, he was expecting the anxiety of it all to keep him up. He knew he needed his rest, however, and was willing to attempt it. He glanced to Ori, likewise sleeping on the edge of his seat next to his arm... Hadn't his ghost already rested on Venus, just a short while ago? He made a face and rolled over.

"Schade..."

Civil was staring at him. Well, perhaps Civil. He stood unnaturally still next to the seat, staring down through a cracked helmet. He made no sound, not even to breathe.

Schade stared back, but was oddly calm. He looked up at the once-titan without sitting up, peering at him from over an arm. "What do you want?" He asked.

No sound, until a broken voice spoke from the entire body. "You... _Left me_ down there.”

Schade gritted his jaw. "So you've said..."

"You _abandoned_ us," came a second response. It sounded precisely as it had the first time the specter had spoken it.

There was a pause where Schade never blinked. A part of him yearned for Civil to be there, to be retrievable and alive, but the majority of him knew what this was. He knew what he had done... And what he will never do again. "...I'm sorry," he said, knowing the figure was only his imagination.

It said nothing. It was a thrall in titan armour, all frozen still and glowing beneath the cracks. The helmet had cracked open into a familiar, terrifying maw, but no sign of breath. Nothing moved. Nothing seemed right.

Schade stared down at the mark, still attached to its belt. It was pristine now, as he'd always remembered it. "I see now," he said quietly to the null fascination as he slowly reached for it. "I know when I'm dreaming... I didn't know before, but I do now. You're not real..." He reached the last few inches and his fingertips touched the mark...

"...Schade?"

Consciousness fully hit him this time. He was reaching toward his own armour, hand gently having taken up his brother's mark. It was Ori's voice he heard over his shoulder.

"Schade, are you awake?" He was only a bit concerned.

"...Yeah," he said finally as he withdrew his hand and rubbed his face. "Yeah, I'm up... How long did I sleep?"

"About two hours... You were dreaming for a minute there."

He nodded and started to stretch, feeling his lower neck pop quietly. "I think it's almost over... The dreams, that is."

Ori blinked, a slight scratching sound as his shell twitched. "What do you mean?"

"Ever since we killed Omnigul... It's been different." He stared at the cockpit glass now, thinking on things. "The dreams are less real. Less convincing... Civil repeated himself this time. The audio was the same as before, mark for mark..." He paused again, this time drawing in a breath and dragging his hands down his face. "Is this an ending, or a beginning...?"

His ghost chittered, watching him closely. "I'm not sure, but... I woke you up because I just received a message from Meteor."

For his tone, that sat him up quickly. "What's going on?"

Ori spun his shell and moved toward his armour, subconsciously leading his guardian to it all the more quickly. "It looks like you've got a full fireteam of guardians wanting to join you, but it sounds like there's... Someone there causing a scene."

Schade was already working on putting everything on. "Another guardian?"

"No, he said he's never seen this man before. An awoken, civilian by the looks of him..."

"Those his words?" He was tucking in his undershirt and moving on to the hard gear.

"Yeah. It sounds like he's trying to stop the fireteam from going anywhere... And by the fact that we don't have more than our own wings up here, I'd say he's succeeding."

He tugged the last buckle on his boot and made for his cloak, spinning it around him with a frown. "...The hell is an awoken civilian doing holding back a fireteam on the Tower?"

Ori shook his core. "I've not heard of that since before the Last City... But it sounds like he's got some strong words for everyone."

Schade popped his hood up and sat down at his controls. "Then it sounds like we've got some educating to do..." He flipped a few switches and his systems came online. His cockpit interior dimmed as they slipped into Earth's shadow, late evening where they would land. Next thing they knew, the ship was diving into atmosphere...

The flight hadn't taken long, maybe just a minute or two. He had left his ship in a near orbit over view of the Traveler in case he spotted the others. A brief ping of Tower Control and he was already in the docking bay.

The cockpit hissed open. "If it's New Monarchy, I'm gonna go put a Dead Orbit sticker right on someone's cockpit window..."

Ori almost laughed. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was New Monarchy's followers. They've been very domestic recently, like leaving the City at all is a detriment to it."

Schade shook his head with a dumb squint as he walked from the hangar out to the courtyard. "Have they seriously never heard of patrols?"

"They should, they have supplies everywhere out in the..."

They both stopped at the sight of the man holding up their fireteam. He was of average build with wild black hair and a goatee, dressed in an upper-class civilian coat that looked very well-kept. He was arguing with Meteor directly, arms outstretched before he turned his crimson gaze back to Schade. He half-smiled, all of it wholly out of spite. "And here's the disasterpiece himself..."

Schade bristled with a quiet fury as Ori took to floating a bit behind his shoulder. "The fuck are _you_ doing here...?"

"Trying to save these guardians from you, what's it look like?"

His fireteam all turned to look at him, concern obvious in their gazes.

"What's this man talking about?"

"Is our fireteam leader hiding something...?"

Meteor looked _highly_ displeased. "Guy's been talkin' smack about you this whole time..."

"Oh, I expect he would," Schade hissed as he approached him with silent steps.

Trish was just next to Meteor, looking right pissed as the rest of their fireteam milled in apprehensive confusion behind her. "You know this bitch?"

"Yeah he does," the awoken said, not backing down an inch from the exo's obvious threatening presence. "I'm the one who moved on... So why can't you, Schade? Do you feel the need to drag all these others to their deaths on your way out?"

"Moved on, my ass," Schade growled back, almost up in the man's face. "What about your little attack dogs, huh? What about them?"

"What, the ones you slaughtered?" The awoken was smiling, but his anger was apparent.

The titans in their fireteam all felt it at once. This was more than just an inconvenience... There was bad blood here. Bad enough that Meteor had taken a step forward, sensing just how close they were to a real fight in the Tower courtyard.

Trish looked back to see the titans situating themselves and took it to heart, moving a bit to the stranger's other side. She could see Ori practically hiding behind Schade, ready to phase into his psyche at a moment's notice... They were all familiar with each other, and none of it was good.

Schade balled his hands into fists. "Never a final death on _my_ hands, at least..."

The man squinted at him. "You sure about that...?" When Schade's hand gravitated toward the knife on his belt, he had the gall to turn back toward the fireteam. "I had my doubts at first when you said _this_ was your fireteam leader, but now? Oh, now I know for certain you are all headed to your final deaths. This reckless coward couldn't keep you alive if you were tied to him."

"Hey, you watch your fucking mouth!" Trish took her turn to bow up on the man, unafraid despite the titans all getting even more tense.

He turned his unwaveringly bold eyes to her now. "Me? _You_ don't even know who he is," he hissed with a half-mad smile. "I watched this cretin give up and cower for years after meeting the result of his own stupidity..."

Schade started to close the distance again, nothing but malice in his gaze. "You'd know all about giving up, wouldn't you, _Kace?_ At least _I'm_ still a guardian."

The awoken turned a snarl to him, getting right into his personal space. "If you were _half_ the guardian you thought you were, _Civil would still be alive–"_

_ "I'm_ the one who did it!"

Everyone stopped in confusion, and turned their gazes to the clear voice next to them. Ori had come out from behind his guardian and was glaring at Kace with equal parts fear and rage. "..._I_ left Civil in the Hellmouth. Not him."

Schade stared dumbfounded at his ghost, silent in the wake of his words. His hand had gone to the handle of his knife, ready to kill a man on the Tower over this... Perhaps that's what spurred the ghost to speak.

Ori's shell was tight around him, but it did nothing to hide the furious guilt of his expression. "When I saw no one stood a chance down there, and just how far the Hive were willing to go to snuff us all out... I shell-jacked Arcadia and Titan to force the transmat to the surface..." He recalled his own crystal-clear memories of that night, seeing the guardians fall, rise, and fall again, over and over. Arcadia would flash out to resurrect Kace, then disappear before getting hit. Titan would phase into view long enough to do the same for Civil before he was grabbed by an acolyte. Only in hindsight could he remember the guardian laying down on top of his ghost to protect him. The only thing he could see at the time was the thrall jumping up from the darkness to slash at his core a split second before the transmat. "...But I could only reach Arcadia."

Schade stared at him in disbelief. "Ori...?"

The ghost only seemed to tighten down further, unable to look at either of them. "I acted on my own, without orders... So before you go throwing threats at my guardian, I suggest coming to _me_ first." The glare the ghost pinned on Kace was as valid as any guardian's.

Kace grit his teeth as he glowered right back. "I think I'll do just that, treacherous little spark," he said as he suddenly reached for him... The next few moments happened almost too quickly.

The titans knew this is what it was getting to. Meteor and the other two had bolted forward the moment Kace had, grappling Schade just as the exo drew his dagger and went for Kace's throat. Trish had all but tackled the awoken, instinctively drawing her hand cannon and keeping herself between him and Ori. The warlock behind her jumped forward without question, opting to protect the ghost from this stranger.

Schade was alight with fury, and it took Meteor all but hugging the hunter's blade arm to keep him at bay. _"Fuck off my ghost! Get the fuck away from him!"_

Meteor's boot slid for a moment. "Easy, friend! He's not worth it!"

Trish cursed at Kace from over her hand cannon sights and he laughed, putting his hands up with a single backwards step. "Easy now, no murdering on the Tower..."

Ori was shocked into silence, his pupil having contracted to a tiny dot as he simply tried to keep tabs on all the suddenly hostile bodies around him.

"You want a final death?!" Schade was absolutely rabid, almost pulling free from both the titans holding him before Meteor managed a better hold. "You touch him and I'll hand deliver it, you son of a bitch! _I swear to God, I will!"_

Just around the time the awoken titan was actually thrown to the ground, Meteor opted to wrestle one arm around Schade's neck from behind, doing his best to hang on to his chest armour and keep his grip. "Schade, dammit, we're on the _Tower–!"_ He was unpleasantly surprised by just how well the small hunter could manipulate a much larger opponent hand-to-hand... That opponent apparently being him at the moment, as he felt his weight already shifting around his hip to be thrown just like the other titan.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, ALL OF YOU!" Just as Schade had Meteor's boots leaving the ground, he was yanked up in only one gloved hand by Lord Shaxx. The Crucible handler was already lethally furious, and just being remotely near him would reveal the aura of static that lingered around his form. Literally everyone backed away, save for Schade, who dangled in the massive titan's grasp by his cloak collar. "No fighting is to be had on the Tower! _Normally,_ I'd recommend taking your differences to the Crucible..."

"Oh, I'd _love_ to," Schade hissed angrily through the strain of holding himself up to where he could breathe. "But something tells me he wouldn't take me up on it..."

Kace sneered back at him. "Name your time, tin man–"

"But don't think _I've_ forgotten what you've done, warlock," Shaxx interrupted with a pointed finger, his weight shifting forward threateningly toward Kace. "Putting assassins in my Crucible, all for the sake of a single-target hunt... You should consider yourself lucky I don't throw you from the outer wall right now."

"Is that a threat on Vanguard grounds?" Kace was bold.

Shaxx was unamused. "If you'd like for the Vanguard to be involved, I would be _more than happy_ to inform Ikora of your... Extended, willful absence."

Kace blanched. The years had him forgetting he had abandoned his post against orders... He was AWOL. Ikora would have him completely stripped of guardian rights and privileges. When he caught the other guardians staring at him, he seethed and began to walk away. "Don't think any of you will survive this raid of yours," he said with a broad gesture to the fireteam, then pointed to Schade. "He won't protect you. He won't."

_ "Get out."_ Shaxx's weight shifted forward, threatening the warlock away.

The entire fireteam stared. First at the warlock as he skulked away, then back to Shaxx, who was still effortlessly holding Schade in the air by one arm.

Shaxx turned his angry glare now to the hunter in his hand. "I know your history with that guardian, hunter. Consider this your _one_ free pass..." The two seemed to stare each other down for a moment in silence. Only after Schade sheathed his knife and moved his hand away did Shaxx finally put his boots back on the ground. "...Ignore the nay-sayers," he said to the whole fireteam. "What you are doing is reckless and will push you all to the limits of your abilities... But it is right." He turned again to pin a look on Schade. "You're a fireteam... _Fight like it."_ He let that sink in, then turned to walk away, passing by Trish as he did. "And put your damn weapon away, you're on the Tower."

She never holstered her hand cannon so fast in all her lives. She bit her lip as Shaxx walked past her, only relaxing when the giant titan had gone down the stairs back to his station. She let out a breath and turned to watch Schade as the fellow hunter moved to his ghost before anything else... Ori visibly retreated.

"Schade, l-listen, I–"

"No, stop," he almost whispered as he took the shaking ghost in both hands and held him to his chest. "Stop... It's okay..."

Ori froze the best he could the moment he was taken up, only daring an upward look after verifying he was in fact being held and nothing more. He was expecting rage to be burning in his guardian's eyes, an unforgiving fury for all the years of misplaced grief... But all he saw was patience. Understanding. Concern...

"Are you okay?"

It took longer than it should have for him to respond, staring a moment before offering a careful nod.

Schade gave him a weak smile and briefly stroked his thumbs across the sides of his shell before looking up to the fireteam, frowning once more. "After all that, I'll understand if none of you want to do this with me... But I'm doing this. I'm doing it even if I have to do it alone, though I'd rather not." He turned to the awoken titan from the previous fireteam. "You're not the only one who's seen it from the inside... And I owe it to someone as well to try again. If any of you at all will join me, I _promise_ you, I leave _no one_ behind. But, if not–"

Meteor threw his arm heavily around the hunter's shoulders. "O'course we're goin' with ye! That's what fireteams're for! T'hell with that other guy!"

Trish leaned up against him like he was a railing. "C'moooon, you're stuck with us now. No whiny loser's gonna change that any time soon, pal."

"For my fireteam..." The awoken titan paused, then stepped forward with his head high. "I owe it to my fireteam. If they're still down there, still alive and waiting for rescue, then that's where I'm going. I didn't know there were others who had attempted the Hellmouth and survived... I'm with you," he affirmed with a nod. "I am Cirune, my ghost is Will."

The ghost appeared, giving a nod of its horribly scratched and dented shield shell.

The third titan, a stout human woman, offered a nod. "Lord Shaxx is right. What we're doing here is what's supposed to be... I'm Deliah, and this is North," she indicated as her ghost phased out before her with an angular smile.

The warlock stepped forward and crossed his arms, shaking his head a bit. "Can't believe that guy was a warlock... Out to make the rest of us look bad, I guess. Listen to the big fella you've got. Forget that guy, we're not all like that." He nodded, his ghost shyly coming out of his robes. "Name's Victor-3, and my friend here is Mikey."

Lily suddenly flared into view from Meteor's direction, looking very surprised. "Oh my gosh, we were so caught up we're just now getting to introductions! I'm Lily, and this is my guardian, Meteor-5!" She rested on his head as he chortled. "Sorry, I get nervous sometimes..."

Trish grinned from where she leaned on Schade's shoulder, then brought out her own ghost. "I'm Trish, and this is Tigger... Best comms-keeper there is."

The orange ghost seemed to shrink over her hand. "Don't put me in the spotlight, please..."

Schade was almost smiling again, not only in the face of so many guardians here to help, but slotted tightly between the two that have most recently made his life hell... He would have to thank them once this was all over. "...I'm Schade-9," he nodded, then held out his ghost, who floated gently an inch or two above his palm. "And my partner here is Ori... Best I could ever have."

Ori had only looked at the fireteam briefly before turning his eye back to his guardian. He paused for a moment, perhaps still in disbelief of how well that had gone, then slowly turned his shell up in a smile.

"Well, looks like we're all set!" Meteor chimed up as he finally released Schade's shoulders. "Think it's time to go kick some Hive where it hurts!"

"Couldn't agree more," Trish said as she leaned away.

Schade took one look at the guardians around him, then down to Ori in his palm. There was a fire to his eyes that hadn't been there in years. "Alright, bud... Take us up."

Ori couldn't help but continue smiling. He was still his, and that's all he could have hoped for. Finding his own determination, he turned his eye to all the other ghosts. "Alright, all ghosts link to me... Let's keep everyone alive, start to finish."

Luna was as she always has been. Cold. Bright under a dark sky. Earth hung above her surface... Above the Pit. It's vast maw hung open to the void above, uncaring. The silence above was like death, but what shrieked below was far worse. A single platform levitated at its center, a ring that drew everything down to the gullet, awaiting a bridge that had yet to form.

Schade stood inches from the plate, staring out at the distant platform as though it stared back at him. He stood at the fore of his fireteam with his gaze cast away from them. He had allowed them to recheck their gear before they truly began, but he felt like he was only stalling. His jaw was tight beneath his helmet... He was grateful he could remain so expressionless.

_ Schade?_

He welcomed Ori's voice in his mind. _What is it, bud?_

_ I just... _The ghost paused in his mind, uncertainty ringing clear through subtle chirps and beeps only he could hear. _Whatever happens down here... I'm proud of you. For doing this. I know I have no right to say it after what I–_

_ What you said back on the Tower was probably the most courageous thing I've ever seen,_ he interrupted freely, completely overriding his ghost's voice. _After that admittance, you have every right. If I had half your courage..._

There was a period of silence before Ori simply phased into view just in front of him. His eye was bright and he seemed to be smiling even without the tilt of his shell. _You do... And even if you didn't, which is wrong, I'll still be here with you. No matter what, I'll never leave you._

He reached up to hold him, gently taking the bottom of his shell with his knuckle. _I hope you never do..._

"I think we got it," Meteor said from behind him, approaching as he slung his shotgun. "Looks like we're all ready... You good, friend?"

Schade forced himself to take a deep breath. "...Yeah," he decided. "Yeah, I'm good." He saw Ori at arms' length away and stepped forward, the light of his ghost the only encouragement he needed to step on the plate. He turned to face the fireteam as tiny threads of soulfire traced their way around the circle at his feet. "When we drop down, we're going to drop fast. The atmosphere gets thicker on the way down, so don't let the sounds distract you. It'll be pitch black and your legs will be broken unless you use your Light to jump... Our ghosts can only help us so much down there. Move as a group, and stay alive as long as possible..."

Trish smirked as the intricate green flames carved their mark about his boots. "So, when you say 'drop' and 'broken legs' in the same sentence, I have my concerns... What do we do, just jump as far as you can out there and hope for the best?"

Schade said nothing as the circle connected and soulfire began to creep outward across the span toward the ring at the center. The bridge slowly ground its way into existence behind him. He didn't need to look. He knew it was there. Where it went. Upon the last shudder of the structure locking into place in this reality, he finally turned to face it.

"I mean," Trish said with an odd movement of her hands. "You can always do... _That,_ I guess..."

"Schade's right," came Cirune from behind him. "Even the first few moments in the Hellmouth are terrifying... Don't let it shake you."

Victor approached with a tilt of his helmet. "I've never tried it... Doesn't look too bad."

The awoken titan turned to face him. "Don't underestimate it, either... We couldn't pass, it was so densely populated with Hive."

Deliah watched him. "I know I shouldn't underestimate them, but I suppose this is all part of having never been down there to begin with..."

Meteor had been facing them while they spoke. "I'm new to this as well... Guess we'd better keep our wits about us," he surmised before he turned to look at Schade.

He was perfectly still, staring forward at the bridge. Were it not for the extremely subtle movement of light reflecting on his rifle sights, no one would have known the hunter was shaking.

The giant exo stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "Schade...?" He waited until he looked at him. His voice was quiet and personal. "We're all right behind you."

Schade looked back at them all. Three titans, two hunters, and a warlock... The odds were definitely better this time, at least, but his reactor was up in his throat anyway. He looked forward to Ori, who stared back at him for just a moment before nodding and phasing into his helmet. A subtle roll of his shoulders and he moved for the bridge.

Each step felt like it was in slow motion. Each was a memory, visions clawing at his mind until he could practically feel them.

_ Focus._

He took a breath and focused on Ori. He knew what hell awaited them down there, but only the surface of it.

_ You'll need everything you have to make it through this._

He was staring at the ring before him, knowing what rested just beneath it. He felt like if he hesitated, he would go mad, so he jumped two strides from the edge and let gravity do its thing. As he fell, he risked a glance upward to see Meteor and Trish practically at the edge of his cloak, and the other three trailing just behind them. His own thoughts steeled his spine as everything around them grew darker with the fall.

_ I have everything I need._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- **ADDENDUM** The titan from the previous fireteam has been renamed to "Cirune" instead of "Sheridan." For reasons. Now to go fix that in all the fifteen pages I've already typed...
> 
> \- I am... SO tired right now, guys. But this chapter? I needed to see it through tonight. Ori's confession was actually thrown in here yesterday and it changed the entire feel of the next two chapters. It was something I intended to include in this arc, but I had initially drafted it into the last chapter... I found it much more appropriate for this chapter.
> 
> \- Over the years of having my own night terrors and hallucinations, I trained myself to stay calm, reach out, and touch The Thing. If The Thing disappeared, then I could go back to sleep. If The Thing didn't disappear and my hand actually touched it... Well, I have yet to have one do that.
> 
> \- Kace was actually a very talented combatant and not to be taken lightly, even if he appears to have gone a bit off the deep end here. It's true, he did conscript assassins to bring Schade to his final death in a Crucible match, but after having them defeated fairly, he held his decisions against what Civil may have wanted and it weighed heavily on his mind until he broke... Don't hate the man just yet. Schade wasn't the only one to have lost a brother that night. While Schade did seem to give up and work his way through the years to recovery, Kace instead had the opposite effect, gradually spiraling downward until he gave up his ghost. Arcadia's fate, however, is a mystery kept for another chapter...
> 
> \- The only mistake you can make worse than touching Civil's mark is reaching for Schade's ghost.
> 
> \- Thusfar, the ghosts Will, North, and Mikey are the only ones not named after cats...
> 
> \- Ori called Arcadia "Archie" all of once in the past, and that's what they called him from that point on until the Hellmouth incident.


	11. Count To Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desperation can lead to innovation, when tempered with logic. Alone, the will to survive can overpower even the most morally resolute. It isn't just loss that can drive a person mad, and when tensions mount in the presence of the unexpected, who will be forced to play the role of the betrayer...?

**Count To Seven**

"And then it just looked at me and said 'well you know, _I _have patrols, too!'"

"You serious?!" Schade cackled at Kace's joke as their ships drifted into orbit. "Can't believe a frame used your own words against you!"

"Oh, it was humbling, to say the least," the awoken chuckled back.

"You? Humbled?" Civil took a skeptical breath through his teeth. "I dunno if I believe that one..."

Kace made a small sound over comms. "Come on, get past the _absolutely debonair_ wardrobe and the _smoldering_ eyes and you've come face-to-face with only the most–" His hair flip was audible. "– _Wonderfully_ humble hero in the Sol system..."

Civil only chuckled. "You're as bad as Schade."

"Hey!"

Kace groaned impatiently. "I hate that Luna is only just close enough that we can't warp to it..."

"I mean, we _could,"_ Schade argued. "...Right _into_ it."

The warlock snorted. "Go straight to the Hellmouth, fly our ships right in, 'hi, lost guardians!'"

Schade was laughing along with him when Ori pinged him quietly. "Schade?"

"Yo."

"Civil's trying to reach you on a private channel... Not sure what he wants."

The exo made a face, aware Kace hadn't heard the exchange. "...Hey, be right back."

"Yeah, gotta recheck my gear anyway."

"A'ight, nine minutes to touchdown." Schade hit a switch and the Slipper Misfit drifted into autopilot, then he leaned back his seat and pointed finger guns to Ori, who switched over to the private channel. "What's up, big bro?"

Civil opened with an uncomfortable breath. "Yeah, I just... You sure about this?"

Schade made a face before he actually sat up, turned around, and looked through his cockpit to Civil's ship at his wing. "Hey, you're actually nervous... You know I take your battle senses seriously. What's going on over there?"

"I dunno. Something about this just seems... Off. It's not just the lost guardians or the Hive or any of that. It just feels like..." He paused in thought. He was more honest with Schade about his tension than he was with anyone else. "Like three mice walking down a sloping pipe and there's a cat at the end..."

Schade normally would have laughed at that, were it not coupled with the titan's unsettled tone. "We'll be fine," he encouraged, deciding to smile. "We've faced Hive so many times before, it's a wonder they still have units to throw at us... Remember that one time in that underground Hive temple? How it was an absolute _flood_ of thrall that came out, and just how hard we beat them down? You were the star of that show, for sure."

Civil paused. "You really think it'll be that easy?"

"I know it will," the hunter nodded, still looking to his brother's ship. "Between your raw power, my breakneck speed, and Kace's sheer cunning, there's not an army in the system who can stand against us."

An uneasy silence took the void between them.

"Don't worry, brother," Schade continued, his tone softer. "This is literally what we're here for. We can't fail, it's just not what we do."

Civil's armour creaked, a sign he was leaned forward on something as he always did when he was unsettled by thought. "I just... Need to know you're taking this seriously." Another pause. "I know it's your turn to lead, and none of us have ever doubted each other, but... I don't like what I'm _feeling_ about this run. Promise me we're all coming back from this, little brother. That, for once, you'll be careful."

Schade held his silence. At least, he'd wished he did. He remembered otherwise.

"Schade...?"

His words to his brother were the very reason he hated making promises...

_ Jump now._

Ori's voice wrenched him from his memory. Back to the present. A misty puff of light and a swirl of his cloak, and he fell to his boots at a much more manageable six feet instead of the bone-shattering height of terminal velocity. The sound of crunching tibias and pained yelps told him his fireteam misjudged the drop. He heard only one easy settling, belonging to the boots of Cirune just behind him.

"Oooiii, that was downright unpleasant," Meteor groused as he got vertical again.

"You're telling me..." Trish was just next to him, behind Schade's other shoulder. She started to step forward as their ghosts phased away. "So, what's hiding down here anywa–" She almost choked for how quickly Schade had grappled onto her cloak collar, holding her in place before her foot came down for her second step. She was about to complain until she saw the look he was giving her, almost able to see the violet glint of his eyes past his helmet visor. She instead chose to take a step back, away from the bones surrounding them. It was then he finally let go of her.

"Here again," Cirune breathed solemnly as he stood just next to Schade and looked out to the darkness around them. "We didn't get much further than this room... Whatever is down here, moving toward those lamps seems to help with your motion." He indicated to the glowing pillar ahead of them, seeming small in the pitch for the distance. "I'm not sure why they help, or what the Hive are doing with them, but they seem to ease off the darkness. They will detonate after a short time of exposure, but there are many."

Schade stared at the light in the distance, expression unreadable from behind his visor. "A relay race, then," he mumbled as his eyes, still somewhat keen in the dark, traced the outline of the stone path before them. There were more bones than he remembered...

_ You can do this._

He wasn't sure if it was his own thoughts or Ori speaking. It didn't matter. He took a breath and looked back to the others, who were watching him and Cirune as if they were leading the fireteam equally.

Victor had his ghost out, listening to something he was quietly saying to him before looking up to them. "Mikey says there's other sources of light at the edge of his sensory range... There are _other guardians_ down here."

"That's why we're here, then," Deliah said as she racked her shotgun one-handed.

"I can detect them too," Lily said as she phased out just over Meteor's shoulder, causing him to jump a bit. "At least three, maybe more... If they're alive, how do we get them back to the surface? Will their ghosts even have the energy to transmat from being down here so long?"

"I can handle that." Ori's voice was low over the comms, as though he was hesitant to speak. "Just get me within range of their cores..."

Deliah chuckled. "One interesting ghost you got there, hunter." When Schade turned to look at her and she could faintly see his eyes behind his visor, she only shrugged and put her free hand in front of her defensively. "Don't worry, I have _zero_ intention of going for him after seeing how far you'd go on the Tower..."

"That aside," Cirune interrupted. "If those lights are the other half of my fireteam, we _are_ going to find them. Their names are Kenta, Firia-7, Marcus, and Auran; hunter, two warlocks, and titan respectively... We all need to be on the same page for this to work," he said a bit more quietly to the two. "Without cohesion, trust... We won't make it down here."

"Agreed," Meteor said as he strode up next to the two. "We're all we got, just us and our ghosts."

Tigger chimed in over comms. "Yes, you have us, but I do recall Schade mentioning we're limited... Experiencing it firsthand, now I have my concerns..."

Schade took a breath and settled himself in the dark, at least making the attempt to ease his nerves. "We stick together," he said as he watched the other guardians. "Move together, fight together, live through this together... Our ghosts will have an easier time if we're moving in a group. And trust me," he said as he turned to look to the pitch once more. "They're going to need all the help they can get..."

Trish had moved up close to him, nudging his arm with her elbow. "You got it, boss... Ready when you are."

Schade looked to them all to see how ready they were... He was stalling again. He looked to the lantern in the dark, its pale light glinting off of bones and pools of unknown liquid all around. There was another further out, marking a kind of trail in the blackness...

_ Whatever you walk through... I'm with you._

He readied his rifle, unable to do anything about how tense he was other than to accept it. "...Let's move."

All six moved at once at a running pace. As soon as they crossed the threshold and the bones crunched beneath their boots, the distant shrieks began. It started with the clicks of the thrall as they closed in from seemingly everywhere, all claws and teeth and shuddering hides of keratin. Amid their screams, then, came the acolytes in their numbers. A veritable army rose to meet them.

Meteor growled as his boots grew heavier, though he made certain to stay close to Schade. "Well, this's familiar..."

Victor had drawn a hand cannon and was doing his best to pop heads as he saw them. "That's... A _lot_ of Hive. Where did they all come from? Were they all just sleeping down here?!"

"If they were, we've woken them now!" Trish, sharp-eyed as ever, was already using her scout rifle to damage the knights she could see in the distance, discernable only by the angle of their eyes and the glint of their horrific swords.

Schade whirled to face more targets as they reached the first lantern. Already, this was going significantly better than he'd imagined. As he opened fire on the various units attempting to overtake them, he looked past his fireteam to see the place where he, Civil, and Kace attempted their run. It was about the halfway mark between the lantern and where they started, all stones and bones and oily black. They had stopped there and attempted to stand their ground, not knowing it was to be their undoing. As his memory took over, he could see the very spot Civil had fallen for the last time. He wondered if any of these bones were his...

_ Eyes up!_

He snapped to as soon as Ori spoke to him, realizing he had stopped firing for a moment. A few thrall tried to overtake him, but he quickly swapped to his sidearm and pocked their eyeless faces full of holes. It took him a moment to realize Meteor was practically shoulder to shoulder with him, sparking with arc Light and grenades. Solar Light bloomed just behind him as Trish's golden gun was loosed into the screeching chaos from over his other shoulder. They were both there. They had been the whole time.

"Time to move to the next one!" Cirune called over comms, loud and clear despite the army of Hive falling to their weapons. "We have to get clear or it's going to take us all out with the blast!"

Schade risked a glance and a few steps backwards, scanning for the next source of pale light as the lantern next to them began to glow like heated iron. "Stay together and let's go!" He put a few rounds into some acolytes that got too close, then sidestepped away with his fireteam as they moved as one hostile blob of Light toward the next lantern. Already, he could feel the difference. The lanterns did make it easier to move.

As the thrall began charging again, the first lantern detonated, instantly incinerating everything down to a smoldering crisp within twenty feet of it. Schade felt no small amount of satisfaction watching the Hive burn under their own devices.

"Sword knights incoming!" Victor's shout was accompanied by a series of shotgun rounds from Meteor as the guardians turned to find two knights driving their way into their middle. Deliah held the trigger on her submachine gun and tried to back one down, but the other knight drove forward and forced her back. They were working together. A third knight forced its way in and someone's shield ruptured.

Schade swerved to the side as a blade came swinging his way, only barely able to dodge it before more acolyte fire glanced off of the edge of his shield. "They're trying to separate us," he growled through their helmets, his tone far more tense and hostile than normal. "Stay together! Force them back!"

Void energies erupted from the warlock of the fireteam as Victor summoned a massive ball of it and hurled it at the knights, the nova bomb easily taking them out as twice as many acolytes pushed into their place. "This is insane! How are there so many?!"

"Don't lose your way," came Cirune again, this time pinging his location with a marker across their helmet displays. He was nearing the next lantern already, Deliah the only one near him. "Regroup on me, quickly! They won't stop until we leave this area!"

Meteor had yanked Trish behind him with one hand and shotgun-blasted a charging group of thrall with the other. "How d'ye know?!"

Victor sent a blast of void energies into a thrall that had his leg, limping backwards to join the rest. "Don't think he does, but I'm game to try by this point!"

The guardians managed to gather once again, arriving at the lantern at different times. The presence of Light had seeped into its surface early as Cirune and Deliah drew near it, then Meteor and Trish. Schade had to force his way through a small barrier of thrall to get to it, and Victor's limp left him arriving just as the lanter's colour began to shift.

A glowing-clawed thrall took a flying leap at the group, only to be shotgunned into a drift of flakey dust by Cirune. "The next lantern is this way... Be careful of the hole! We almost fell in!"

Deliah had grabbed a hold of Victor's belt and yanked him along, never failing to keep fire on the acolytes that sent shots pinging off of what remained of her shields. "How far did you get?!"

Cirune punched an acolyte, supported by Trish firing a few rounds into the ones coming up behind it. "This is as far as we managed..."

Trish managed a glance back into the pitch, seeing the circular edge of the hole as the second lantern detonated with a fiery flash... Even if it wasn't as dark as it was, she still couldn't see anything inside beyond an overwhelming blackness. "I don't even want to know what these are for," she decided out loud a moment before a group of thrall charged from behind her. She was alerted almost too late by their shrill howls and spun to take her shots, nailing two before the third managed a slash to her arm. Its claws ripped through her shields until they ruptured, stopping only when she had pulled her knife and jammed it into its forehead. She cringed briefly and fell back a bit, then realized with a sudden twinge of fear that Meteor wasn't next to her.

Schade heard the familiar, bone-chilling roar of a knight and managed to roll away just as a massive Hive sword came crashing down where he once stood. He slashed the throat of one acolyte and rammed the blade into another's leg, bending its head down into his shotgun's execution before moving away from the sword knight. When he looked up, he saw nothing but Hive.

"They're separating us again!" Trish's voice came over comms.

A brief ping of terror went through him when he couldn't see his fireteam, but the flash of an arc blast caught his eye and he could see Deliah losing her patience with another knight and a couple of acolytes, Victor staying close to her with auto rifle support. He pressed past the Hive and their opressive weight of darkness and grabbed a hold of Trish, dragging her to Deliah as they all gunned down everything they could see. He scanned quickly, seeing Cirune throw a void grenade that illuminated dozens of Hive in violet light... He only counted four guardians. "Where's Meteor?!"

Trish was breathlessly holding her gun arm near her shoulder, doing her best to aim. "He was right behind me–"

A series of shotgun blasts and a rupturing shield answered for them. Meteor was some yards away facing off with another sword knight and a skittering collection of thrall as they all tried to overtake him, some falling into ash in the attempt. The sight was met with a violent advance from the two hunters, both unloading rapidly as they pushed to retrieve their titan.

Cirune stopped before he could get too close to the lantern and expose it to Light. "What are you doing?! Get to the next point!"

Meteor was blasting as many Hive as he could one-handed with his shotgun, appearing to be holding his left arm against himself as he attempted to retreat back toward where he could see the light coming from. His shotgun clicked and, without missing a beat, he flipped it like an oversized knife and held it by the barrel, then swung it one-armed like a baseball bat into an acolyte's skull. He did this a couple more times until another knight appeared, but a flaming knife flew over his shoulder into its neck.

"Fall back, big guy!" Trish came up from behind him to stand at his shoulder, firing on anything and everything that got too close.

Schade had simply reached out and grabbed him by the pauldron with his free hand, yanking him along until the three of them were jogging and firing at the same time. The thrall were small, but they were fast, and unfortunately had filled in many gaps between them and the other half of the fireteam. As he went to open fire on them, they fell more quickly than he had expected as gunfire from the other side was delivered by Deliah, Victor, and Cirune.

"You're all insane," Deliah growled as all six finally moved to the next lantern together. "What were you thinking, titan?!"

Meteor was out of breath, but revealed what he had been protecting in his left hand. A ghost, dark and horribly battered with its shell clasped tightly around its core. The lens was cracked, but the telltale flicker of light showed it was still clinging to life.

Cirune gawked, equally as surprised as he was relieved. "I don't believe it... You found Ollie."

Meteor nodded breathlessly, hiding the ghost in his mark before reloading his shotgun. "I promised 'im I'd bring 'im back..."

The awoken smiled behind his helmet, but the relief passed all too quickly as the lantern's colour began to shift to orange. "Alright, move! Quickly!"

"Where?" Victor asked as he leveled his rifle, still limping but moving better now that the lantern lifted the darkness a bit. "Where is the next point?"

Cirune halted internally, suddenly realizing he couldn't see another.

"On me," Schade growled as he started to move away from their current light, which had started to hum ominously. "Move on me, let's go!"

Deliah turned a look his way. "It's pitch black down here, you know where you're going?!"

"Never doubt the pathfinder who _really_ wants out of an area," Trish said as she already moved to his side.

They all shifted together again and marched, flattening the Hive as they went. More knights rushed in, but now they were expected. Shotguns fired from every direction and there was nowhere for them to go but down. Grenades of all Light elements flew freely, illuminating everything in flashes of orange, blue, and violet. The lantern exploded and briefly bathed the area in a fiery glow. When Deliah almost fell into a hole, Meteor dragged her back to solid ground. Victor struggled to move under the increasing weight of darkness on his bum leg, so Trish grabbed him by the arm to pull him along in the middle of the group. Cirune lunged out with a void-filled fist and sent a thrall flying back into the masses, effectively turning it into a small grenade. He returned to Schade as the hunter continued to lead them onward into the darkness, silently praying the exo's eyes were better than his in the pitch.

Schade popped a few heads with his scout rifle, then switched to his sidearm when he saw things once again getting too close. He rapidly popped rounds into a knight's helmet in hopes of backing it away until a bigger gun came forward... And that's when he saw it. A single line of vapor that lasted only for a moment, coming from somewhere in the dark to blast the knight's head off with a percussive report that echoed above the sound of Hive weapons. His gaze snapped to his right as the knight fell, violet eyes searching the pitch for anything. "Anyone else see that?"

"See what?" Deliah blasted an acolyte away and was already aiming at the next two shooting at her.

Cirune was as attentive as Schade. "Sniper fire..."

Despite the dangers, Schade was staring off into the darkness, searching for the source. It wasn't Hive weaponry that made that sound. There was a dim light in the distance as though there was another room, seeming much larger than the lanterns. He could just see the silhouette of the rockface in front of it. As he watched, a second shot rang out with an upwards aim, the muzzle flash clearly visible among the rocks. The wielder wanted to be found. "There! It's another guardian!"

"That could be Kenta," Cirune hoped out loud as they began to move, forcing their way through the weight of darkness toward the subtle form of the rocks.

As they neared, the difference in the area was apparent. There was a bit of visible light in the area cast by unknown forces, revealing in misty green a disk of roughly carved hive inscriptions between sparse rock formations on the ground and a deep chasm just behind it. It was another room entirely just beyond the glowing abyss. The trek hadn't gone easy, however.

"Wait, slow down! Victor is falling behind!" Lily pinged them over their helmets as Meteor reached out to grab the limping warlock.

Deliah threw an acolyte off of her and shotgunned a thrall that managed to duck under it as it flew. She was visibly winded from the effort and fighting to keep up with the group as well. "I can barely move... The hell _is_ this?"

Schade looked back with Cirune just ahead of him, sighting another knight charging at them in the distance. "It's what kills you down here..." Even he was getting worn down by the pressure. He saw acolyte shots come sailing through the group and realized that he was the only one left who had shields. _...Ori, ping the ghosts. Give me an update on their statuses._

There was just a millisecond of silence before the little machine responded, time slowing as they conversed privately. _We've been adjusting our strategies as we go, but we've all agreed to wait until one of our guardians is injured before coming out. The pressure in this area alone is immense, and we may have an easier time around other ghosts, but we need to conserve our Light. Victor is in bad shape, worse than he's letting on, but Mikey is telling us he's being stopped from helping him._

_ By what? The Hive?_

_ No, by Victor. He's afraid the Hive will take Mikey if they see him._

Time flowed as normal on Schade's tense growl. They had spread out a bit and the Hive had several openings they were attempting to take advantage of, but Meteor and Trish were doing a good job keeping Victor nested between them while Deliah brought up the rear. He didn't know how long it was going to last. They were starting to break apart again. He stowed his sidearm and drew his shotgun as the knight he'd noticed drew up closer to the group, getting ready to engage with it at close range in a gamble.

A solar grenade flew overhead, hitting the ground just behind the knight and scattering into a dozen seeker fragments. It was a sorry throw, but it was enough to scatter and disorient the charging Hive so Deliah could blast the knight's head off.

"Trish, you alright back there?" Schade squinted at the only solar guardian in the fireteam.

"That wasn't me!" She risked a glance around, trying to see where the grenade came from.

"It's Kenta!" Cirune was a short ways ahead, the Hive having thinned considerably in that direction. They had finally made it to the rocks near the chasm.

As they caught up, Schade looked over to see the titan going part of the way into the rocks to meet the stray guardian. It was a hunter with a battered rifle, torn cloak, and cracked helmet. He moved as though he was very injured and Cirune practically had to carry him down.

The guardians regrouped as the Hive's numbers dwindled in the dark, offering a surreal reprieve where they could hear each other again. The ghosts had synced their comms to adjust for the seventh guardian. Cirune had brought the hunter down to ground level, where he leaned heavily against one of the boulders. "Kenta, it _is_ you... I knew it was you. What happened? Can you move?"

The hunter shook his head. "I didn't think you were coming back... Why the hell did you come back?" He sounded exhausted.

Schade was still on edge, staring into the pitch with his rifle raised as the others talked. They weren't alone. They were still being watched. He could feel it like a predator was bearing down on them in the dark, waiting to pounce. This had to have been what titans felt... But the titans weren't alerted. Despite his nerves, he looked back to see Meteor and Deliah disengaged and trying to catch their breath. Why couldn't they feel this?

"You shouldn't have come back here," Kenta warned through fuzzy comms. His helmet had taken a substantial amount of damage. "Auran stood his ground until they destroyed his ghost... I watched him fall... Firia and Marcus went deeper, but I could h-hear them..." He slowly shook his head, hands shaking as he held his rifle. "Marcus was screaming... I could _hear_ his Light being ripped from him... He wouldn't stop screaming..."

Cirune put his hands on the hunter's arms, straightening him up against the boulder. "Get your wits about you, guardian. Is your ghost alright?"

The man wasn't listening. He gripped the rim of the titan's chestplate in one fist and held him there. "There's something down here, Cirune..."

Schade's nerves were absolutely crawling. The Hive had disappeared as quickly as they had come, and now there wasn't a sound to be heard in the dark. If this was a deliberate tactic, the Hive were far better at psychological warfare than he initially thought. He lingered at the edge of the group, still sighting down his rifle at anything his eyes could pick up in the pitch.

Meteor was a bit less winded, now leaning his back against a rock as he checked on the ghost he'd rescued. "...Lily, how're all the ghosts?"

She buzzed through their helmets. "We're all okay... Ollie will be fine if he doesn't get hit. Kenta's ghost is low on Light, but she'll be okay if she hangs around us for a little while."

"I saw the fire," Kenta was saying to Cirune. He still had a white-knuckle grip on his chassis.

The titan was visibly concerned. "What are you talking about...?"

Chains could be heard in the distant dark. They couldn't hear it, but Schade could. Exo ears were sensitive, and the tingling scratch of a sound was playing havoc with his paranoia. He couldn't pinpoint the direction, but he could hear it, and it made him grip his rifle even harder. Something he couldn't see disturbed the air and he found himself angling his gaze up here and there. Chains again... The whisper of something in the air... Cloth and claws and blades... He glanced back to the chasm behind them and the inscribed plate just before it, seeing where there was a bridge formation panel. It was a way out, and his instincts were practically screaming for them to head that way.

Another subtle breath of sound and Meteor snapped to, Deliah almost immediately following suit. "The hell was that?"

Schade was still like a coiled spring, never once having taken a moment to disengage. "Something's right on top of us," he breathed tensely. The back of his skull burned...

Victor limped back a bit, trying to hide against the rocks. "Alright, little buddy," he whispered to his ghost as he phased out into his palm. "Let's get me fixed up for round two–"

A set of horrid claws shot out from the darkness over the rock, clasping around the ghost. Victor's immediate response was to clamp his hands down on his partner, resulting in him being yanked effortlessly over the boulder into the dark as his auto rifle clattered to the ground.

"Contact, contact!" Deliah was scrambling around, trying to figure out exactly where the threat had gone.

Trish jerked her hand cannon around and tried a couple shots high into the dark where she could hear the sound of struggle, simply hoping she wasn't going to hit the warlock. "It's got Victor!"

Cirune readied his own auto rifle and put a hand on Kenta's chest, signaling the hunter to stay put. "Does anyone have a visual?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, the telltale flicker of void light briefly teased in the air, then fully illuminated a Hive wizard as Victor rammed a grenade into its chest. He still had a deathgrip on his ghost, but so did the wizard. The detonation of the grenade seared both of them and, despite the point-blank damage, Victor gripped his ghost with both hands and kicked as hard as he could against the wizard's midsection. It had no choice but to let go and Victor started to fall with his ghost back in his possession, but at least two more forms could be seen lunging toward him in the air as the light of his grenade faded. The last movement that could be seen was of Victor physically throwing Mikey back toward the fireteam, away from the wizards that looked like they were restraining him in midair.

"Victor!" The ghost had fallen into Trish's hands, but he fought back in a vain attempt to reunite with his guardian. "Let me go!"

"No, not again!" Kenta had readied his sniper and was moving toward the bridge plate, sounding panicked. "The wizards... Not these wizards...!"

Meteor had taken to a predatory growl, pushing past the unbearable weight of the darkness against him. "Knock 'em down and get 'im back, dammit! We're not losin' anyone down here!"

Light suddenly erupted again from the warlock, but not as before. He cried out in pain and terror with one wizard at his legs, another gripping one of his arms, and a third forcibly drawing the Light from his chest.

_ "Victor, no!" _His ghost was helpless but to watch, but there was suddenly a _lot_ of light.

The percussive shockwave of an arc blast illuminated the area as Schade triggered his super, launching himself directly at the wizards with viciously sparking arc blades. The wizards, now five of them visible, recoiled briefly against the bright flash of electricity, leaving themselves wide open for the hunter's strike as he defied the opressive darkness and sprung up into the air to meet them.

Meteor had forced himself forward in time to catch Victor when he dropped, dragging the semi-conscious warlock back to the group with firing support from Deliah and Trish. The Hive had begun to surge again, seemingly triggered by the presence of the wizards.

Thanks to the light from Schade's super, they could see exactly what was coming for them now. Amid the numbers of thrall they had faced before, now two ogres marched heavily toward them, dragging chains that hung from the spikes impaled on their bodies.

Trish helped to drag Victor onto the bridge plate they stood on, reuniting him with his panicked ghost in hopes he could do something now. She looked up to see the ogres as they began to glow, charging their beams with a horrid roar. "We've got nowhere to go, what do we do?!"

"We _stand!"_ Cirune lunged forward and put his arms out, summoning a void bubble around them right as the ogres unleashed their onslaught of beams. Enemy attacks rippled uselessly across its surface as even the weight of darkness began to lift from them. "Our way out is behind us," he said as he held the protective shield around them. "We just have to hold out until it's ready!"

Meteor turned to watch Schade as the hunter defied the darkness on his own, a compact, violent storm rapidly switching from target to target as the ogres approached. His titan intuition clawed at his mind, sensing death closing in. Someone was going to die, and he only hoped to the stars it wasn't here and now... He would make sure it wasn't.

_ Meteor?_ Lily pinged him quietly as he eyed the rocks around him. _What are you going to do?_

He holstered his weapon and made a break for the rocks, climbing the natural pillar as quickly as he could in the darkness. _Gonna make an entrance._

Schade bolted chaotically around the area, forcing his body to move despite the very essense of this pit trying to pin him down. He could feel the tension on his knees and his hips, his shoulders with every strike as the air closed in around him like tar. It was reminiscent of those dreams where you needed to run, but your body was like lead and couldn't move... Except he refused to accept it and moved anyway. He whipped through half a dozen acolytes like chain lightning before he saw the ogres twenty feet away from him. _So be it,_ he thought grimly as he turned his attention to them.

Ori crept into his thoughts, a welcome presence. _Schade, you're too far out. You need to fall back, you're getting surrounded!_

A knight that was between him and the ogre fell with a single strike. He couldn't think. A mixture of fear and duty masked his thoughts, triggered at the sight of the warlock enduring deadly Hive torture, spurred onward by the promise he'd inadvertently made... He would leave no one behind. He whirled toward the nearest ogre and launched at it, but felt the nauseating jerk of his super running out right before the strike hit. He sliced across the ogre's face, only succeeding in pissing it off as it turned to roar at him. _Ah..._

As the ogre's fists came up, he forced himself out of the way before they came down, feeling his legs complaining with every move he made.

_ Get out of this! Just pull back!_

He drove his body to its limits as he forced it to move, practically hearing the servos in his lower back strain under the effort of dodging the second ogre's eye beam. He was surrounded now, unable to see much of the fireteam beyond the glow of void Light interrupted by scattering Hive bodies.

The hum of his reactor was unbearably loud in his ears as he forced himself to move. Instead of allowing his hands to shake, he drove the nervous energy into moving as though he was still in his super. He chose nothing but his old Captain's knife, the keen edge flashing in the dark as he spun about from target to target, throat to throat. To hell with shield richochet and pausing to reload, he would bypass everything with his personal blade and kill until his body gave out. His adrenaline drove him far, but a painful popping sound in his knee told him it wouldn't be long. He turned back to find an ogre bearing down on him, so he launched toward him with his blade and sliced as deeply as he could across the giant monstrosity's ankle, bringing it down with a wet snap of its tendons. He thought he had it, but the second ogre was just there, charging its beam directly towards him...

"Incoming!"

He sprung away at Ori's warning with only a bit of pain as a familiar thundercrash came down on top of the still-standing ogre, interrupting the eye beam with a neck-crunching blow to the top of its head. Meteor had driven himself as far down into the giant's spinal column as he could before jumping to the second ogre and simply punching a grenade into the back of its skull. "Ye gonna move, friend?!"

It took Schade a couple seconds to realize everything that was going on. Not only was he several yards away from the fireteam, but he was just rescued... And now they were both out here. He cursed under his breath as Meteor dismounted the ogre and his grenade detonated, leaving them both to make their way back to the fireteam in the dark. Neither of the ogres were doing well at this point, but they were still willing to fight. He drew his scout rifle again and started unloading into the one that started to charge an attack, but was met with surprise as three golden gun shots flew true into its face.

Trish had come forward from the protection of the bubble, flames crawling across her form as she evened the playing field for the two. As thrall began to charge, she brought her flaming knives out and gave them each homes in skulls. "Come on, way out's this way!"

Schade threw a grenade into the masses and was met with a sharp pain in his shoulder, but continued to fall back with Meteor. By the time they reached Trish, the three of them backed into the bubble where the pressure began to lift. Schade fell back a bit further and lowered himself to one knee, his body unable to keep up with everything he was forcing it to do. Ori phased out to heal him, now that they were safe in the bubble.

Deliah chuckled nervously from behind her submachine gun. "You three are insane. I love it. I really do. But maybe, just _maybe,_ we can stop nearly dying out here for a bit...?"

Meteor glanced back long enough to give Schade's shoulder a gentle pat. "Ye get that from hangin' around this guy..."

"Is that something we'll get used to after a while?" Trish mused as the Hive began to mass around their barrier. "I feel like it's something we'll get used to..."

Cirune remained with his hands out, standing defensively over Victor as he held the barrier strong. "I'd like have the time to find that out, honestly," he strained through the concentration of holding the bubble for an extended time. "Once we get the others, our fireteams will have to join again sometime..."

Schade's chest was heaving from everything he'd just done. As Ori stitched him back together, he realized just how much damage he'd done to himself simply by forcing the rapid movement. Ignoring the extra load, ethereal as it was, had snapped tendons and torn ligaments. His rotator cuff had cracked from that grenade toss being the final straw. He'd damn near thrown out his back from that spindly dodge he'd performed, but his ghost had him now. He opened his eyes and looked at him, meeting his gaze and watching as the image slowly cleared to normal and the pain went away. He was about to say something when he felt a weak tapping at his ankle.

He looked over to see Victor laying on his back where Meteor and Trish had dragged him, looking worse for wear but alive. "I owe you one," came the hoarse words as the warlock lay mostly still between Cirune's boots. His ghost had done well healing him, but having his Light torn into like it had been was going to take a while to recover. Even still, as he lay there holding his ghost to his chest, there was a smile to his modulated voice under his helmet. "M'gonna remember this..."

Schade had finally caught his breath after Ori had finished mending him. "Let's hope we live long enough to do that, huh?"

_ Schade, we might have a problem._

He frowned at Ori's tone in his head. _What is it, bud?_

_ I just had a small conversation with Kenta's ghost, Aiko... She says we might need to watch him. He's normally a lot calmer than this, but she's having trouble reasoning with him at all, even after she got enough Light to heal him._

Schade looked over his shoulder at the fellow hunter, seeing the deathgrip he had on his rifle and how ready he was to bolt. _Won't be the first time this place will have dished out a mental breakdown..._

"Oohhh, not now," Cirune groused as he fought to keep the bubble standing against the Hive's claws.

"Oh, fantastic," Trish added as she looked up to see another wizard hovering around them. "I've about had enough of these fuckers..."

"You're telling me," Victor said groggily as he slowly attempted to get out from under Cirune's stance without tripping him.

Meteor turned to look Cirune over, then judged the fragmented bridge as it formed with an agonizing slowness. He turned to the other titan and watched him shiver. "Ye won't be able to hold the ward for much longer. We're gonna have t'fight before the bridge is done."

"That's what I'm afraid of..."

Deliah was surveying the area beyond their safety bubble, squinting against the different layers of light at play. "Where's that ogre...?"

Trish snapped a new wheel of bullets into her hand cannon. "I took out one, thought Meteor snapped the other's neck... Did it not go down?"

The titan shook her head. "No, I saw it getting back up when your two fellas disengaged."

"Great... So this wizard, and then one more ogre."

Meteor nodded. "At least the ogre is injured... I _swear,_ I heard it's neck snap. I thought I had it."

Victor had finally found his feet, seeming stiff and wobbly as he drew his hand cannon. "Any other ogre, and I'm sure that would have been it. But look at where we're at... The Hellmouth is as deep and dark as it gets in this system."

The thrall dragged their claws across the ward of dawn, sending uneven ripples shuddering across its surface before they drew back away from the void energies eating away at their hands. They were attacking it from all sides, new assailants coming in as the first in line had their talons deteriorated. The wizard drew back a bit and launched balls of energy at the barrier, and Cirune audibly flinched. "I-I don't know how much longer I can hold this..."

Schade suddenly felt his instincts spiking, as though a predatory response was taking over. His attention was dragged to Kenta behind him as the hunter began to fidget. It was the same feeling he got around anyone who panicked. He was terrified. He watched as the gunslinger flicked from thought to thought, gaze switching intermittently from the wizard to the incomplete bridge behind him, boots shifting with his tensely balanced weight. _Oh, don't you do it..._

"We can't stay here," he said quickly, quietly. "Look how many there are... We'll get mowed down and the wizard will rip out our Light... We can't stay here!"

Schade all but snarled at him. "Don't. Move. The bridge isn't done yet, and none of us can make that jump with the pressure here."

"Kenta, hold," Cirune managed as the wizard sent another volley of energy crashing against the bubble. "We stand as long as possible... T-the ward will hold, just... _Wait..."_

Victor steadied himself as his ghost phased away. "Okay, here we go," he breathed as he leveled his cannon, already seeing what was about to happen.

The panicked hunter shook his head. "No, we won't make it, it won't be done in time, we have to go! We can't stay here!"

Deliah snapped her gaze back to him when he shifted his weight again. "Don't you dare, hunter!"

Trish looked back to the bridge as it formed in a glowing green mist, looking more like ethereal icebergs than stone. It was hardly even halfway across the expanse. It was a jump that normally she wouldn't care about, but leaving the protective bubble would bring the weight of darkness back in full.

"I'm not going to die down here! Not to those things!" Before anyone could respond, he bolted. The bridge was incomplete, but mostly solid. It was enough to support weight, somehow, but it just barely crossed half the chasm.

Schade growled and swapped to his sidearm. "Goddammit– Meteor! Trish! Cover him!"

"Victor, you good to move?" Deliah had approached and grabbed him by the arm.

The warlock nodded. "A little wobbly, but you can yank me along anywhere."

"Then we're going!"

"You sure?"

"Go!" Cirune shook as he held the point, jaw gritted tightly against the rippling ward. "The longer I stay here, the more the bridge will complete... Get going!"

Deliah stared, then nodded. "One helluva titan," she said, then grabbed Victor by the belt and the two of them started jogging.

For a moment, Cirune felt his legs start to buckle, but he managed to stay on his feet. A sound to his left caught his attention, the rough racking of a shotgun, and he looked to see Schade standing at his side, ready to fight. "Not crossing yet...?"

"Someone's got to help cover you when the Hive bear down on you," he growled quietly, stubbornness overriding his fear. "No sacrifices tonight. Not happening."

Cirune eyed him for a moment, then glanced down to the titan mark on his belt. It was torn and old, and even though Schade was a hunter, it was equipped properly the way a titan would wear it. He smiled a little despite his fatigue, glaring back to the Hive. "You don't act... Completely like a hunter..."

Schade bore his weight forward. "I've got a soft spot for titans," came the simple response. He saw the wizard look up, likely at their fireteam as they tried to cross the broken bridge. "...Drop it. Now."

Cirune took a breath, steadying himself for what was to come. "As you wish..." He dropped his hands and let the ward collapse, jerking his hands down to his shotgun as Schade delivered the opening shots to the wizard while it wasn't watching them. The additional shots from Cirune were enough to kill it, but now the thrall closed in like the displacement of water. One shot each, and they fell into a flurry of ashes. There were many, but the two shotguns on the backpedaling guardians were enough to keep them at bay.

Kenta hit the end of the bridge at a dead sprint, forcing his legs to carry him over the gap despite the weight working against him. The only thing making it possible was the height difference from the bridge down to the landing. It took everything he had to reach the other side even with using the Light for a double jump, but the boulders throughout the massive hallway-like room made for cover too perfect to pass up.

Trish joined him on the other side with a glare his direction. "Are you out of your fucking mind?!" She raged at the other hunter as Meteor made landfall just behind her. "You just left them behind like that?! You're _lucky_ someone stayed behind on the plate, or you'd never have made it!"

"We need to leave," he shook. His voice was low and wavering, practically insane as he hid behind a boulder. "The Hive will kill us all down here, _they'll eat our Light..."_

Trish was about to berate him further until she saw his ghost phase out before him and attempt to talk sense into him. She called back to mind how Schade struggled to face Omnigul in the RAS-2 bunker, how his body language was the same as this hunter's when the ancient wizard bore down on him. She remembered the panic and took a step back, instead turning to face the others across the way.

Meteor was waiting for the others with his boot just near to the edge of the chasm. Deliah was practically carrying Victor, and he knew the warlock was in no condition for the jump. They made the gliding jump together, but were obviously not going to make it. Deliah hooked her arm on the ledge as soon as she could reach it while Victor hung onto her other arm that led to his belt.

Trish grabbed on to Deliahs' armour and pulled while Meteor leaned over the sheer edge and grabbed onto Victor's arm, and they both hoisted them up onto solid ground. It came easier than she thought it would. "The weight... It's gone here."

"Something tells me that's going to be the easiest part of our night," Victor grumbled as soon as he'd gotten his footing.

"I'd say so," Deliah added, though her tone was tense. "The crazy boys are in trouble!"

Meteor turned to see Schade and Cirune backing over the half-bridge, as well as their missing ogre awkwardly charging at them from the land side. "Ohhhh boy... Schade, get outta there!"

"Time to go, hunter," Cirune said as he turned to make the leap.

Schade heard clattering talons all around him. Despite the oncoming ogre, he chanced a look down into the pitch around the bridge... He immediately regretted it. Dozens of thrall clawed their way up from the darkness, hooking onto the misty edges of the bridge as though they were forming just on its underside and crawling over it like spiders. More than one of them glowed ominously, showing the volatile arcane energies that coursed through them. They all shrieked in disharmony, scraping like bones and metal.

_ Schade...?_

His reactor had jumped into his throat. God, he shouldn't have looked down. He was unsteady, and... Oh, he'd stopped moving.

_ Schade, snap out of it!_

His gaze shot up to the ogre now at the base of the bridge. "Ой, бля!" He spun around and jumped over a thrall, this time intent on getting away. He skipped around another and made a break for the edge, but just as he jumped, something clotheslined him.

"Fuck, Schade!" Cirune had made it to the other side, looking back to see the hunter dangling helplessly by his cloak gripped in the claws of the thrall on the bridge.

Meteor snarled something profane and made to jump back, but Deliah had grabbed him. "The bridge is too high, you can't make it back there!"

Schade kicked at the feeling of something gripping at his ankles, looking down again past the strangling grip of his own cloak as even more thrall clawed at his boots.

Trish was doing the best she could with her scout rifle, thinning out the apparently countless thrall trying to drag him down. "We have to do _something!"_

He flailed as the thrall below lost their grip and those above hauled him in like a catch. By the time his vision cleared, they had him pinned on the edge of the bridge by his upper half, his legs useless over the void as they started to tear into him... Or tried to. The ogre had finally reached him and had brought its massive hand down to pick him up like a ragdoll in its unforgiving grip. It held him like a toy and stared hungrily at him... But he was suddenly glaring right back.

Meteor watched as a familiar glint shone behind his visor, the same crazed eyes he'd had when Sardon had nearly killed him. When Omnigul had ambushed him in the bunker. It was chillingly familiar, and instantly followed by an uneven scattering of arc Light as the hunter panic-triggered a second super.

Cirune blinked, almost flinching back. "What the hell? How-?!"

Trish had jerked back from her rifle sights. "It's just like from before!"

"He does this often?!" Victor gestured to him with a stunned expression behind his helmet.

Lightning cracked and the ogre's hand gave out like it had been holding an explosive. There was no fanfare, no threats or dares as Schade went full feral on everything around him. Amid the chaos, Ori phased out and went spiralling off to the side, hastily floating out of everything's reach as he watched. "He's doing it again!" His eye was a narrow point as he turned to Meteor and Trish. "I can't get through to him!"

The thrall went flying from the bridge and dissolved in tendrils of electricity, the surviving now choosing to avoid the bridge where the furious hunter had staked his claim. The arc Light coming from the guardian now wasn't as powerful as the first super, but it was terrifying nonetheless. The ogre stepped back with a wail, but Schade wouldn't accept a retreat now. He launched directly towards it and rammed his knife into its throat, then shoved his boot into the hole it made and violently jerked the blade upwards. The fountain of electricity ripped through the ogre's skull with extended reach and arched up into the dark, sending the giant limply rolling backwards. Schade dismounted with what should have been a graceful backflip, but something was wrong this time. The vivid electricity was flickering out and he looked unsteady. The thrall in his immediate vicinity were retreating in terror, but there were other, bolder ones approaching from the land side.

Ori seemed to shrink. He could feel him blacking out. "Schade, wake up!"

Meteor suddenly jerked away from Deliah's grip and holstered his weapon, then took a flying leap from the platform. Even Trish balked at him. "The hell are you doing?!"

He had no idea if he could reach the bridge or not from there, but he was damn well going to try. Even at the risk of being attacked by a hallucinating hunter, he was determined not to lose anyone here. He stretched out his arms as his jump began to curve downwards from the Light lift, and he just barely had enough bridge in his hand to form a grip. No time wasted, he hauled himself up over the edge and made a break for Schade, managing to catch the unsteady guardian just as he was about to go over the edge of the bridge. He wrapped one arm around his chest and tried to double back before Schade got it in his head he was another thrall, but found him actually turning with him instead of fighting him. Sighting the renewed numbers of thrall coming after them, he pulled Schade after him and made the jump one more time.

Some thrall tumbled off of the edge, falling into the black abyss as the two sailed over the gap. Nothing was going to make that jump after them. Trish, Cirune, and Deliah were already reaching for them, grappling and pulling them both up onto the ledge with relative ease.

Victor laughed. "Holy shit! I did _not_ think you were going to make that jump!"

"Schade, you okay?" Trish was moving toward the unbalanced hunter as he briefly stumbled away, but was met with Meteor quickly pulling her back.

"No, stay back!" The titan started, and sure enough, Schade lashed out with his blade and came within inches of the both of them as Meteor got in front of Trish. As soon as the blade finished its swing, Meteor was already holding his hand out to stop him. "Easy, friend! Yer safe, take it easy..."

Schade stumbled back, dropped his knife and released the locks on his helmet, all but throwing it away from himself before he fell back against one of the boulders with his head free, hands sprawling against the surface behind him before his legs could give out. Panic was still in his eyes as he gasped for air, but at least he wasn't attacking anyone.

"Schade, hey! Snap out of it!" Ori was quick to his side, hovering just in front of him and glowing gently. "Look at me, you're okay... You made it. We're on the other side."

Victor first watched Schade slowly come out of his panic, then looked around the rocks to Kenta as the other hunter sat and mumbled to his ghost. "...The hell does this place do to people?"

"Evidently," Deliah started with a look his way, "it makes a show of ripping out your Light and scarring its survivors."

Meteor slowly crept toward Schade with the caution of someone approaching a dangerous animal. "Yer alright, friend." He spoke just above a whisper as he slowly reached a gentle hand to the hunter's shoulder. It was a ground, something to link him back to the physical. He'd done this hundreds of times.

Schade's own hand shot out to seize Meteor's wrist the moment he felt it touch him, but the moment he realized the titan's hand wasn't gripping him, his eyes visibly focused. He was still breathing heavily, but something in him appeared to come down a bit after a few seconds.

"There ye are." Seeing him come back to reality, he took that last step forward and put both hands on his shoulders before the hunter's legs could buckle. "Y'okay?"

Schade looked dazed. He was still trying to reconcile the mental whiplash of everything that just happened. One second he was being overtaken by an ogre, the next he's... Here. It was quieter here and he could definitely see Ori just next to him, but Meteor holding him up by his shoulders was a new one. He remembered now, he'd forced a second super trigger again. It was why his nerves were raw and his limbs felt like jelly. His hands tingled as he slowly brought them up to pat the titan's arms, giving an uncertain nod in response to his question.

Meteor looked fairly satisfied. "Good!" His grin was audible as he patted his shoulders. "Ye can sit down if ye want to. I don't know where ye found the Light to pull that off, but it couldn'ta been easy on ye."

Schade blinked hard for a moment, still trying to reel his brain back in. He couldn't function a response just yet, so he simply took the titan up on his offer to sit down, slowly sliding down the rock until his arms rested on his knees. He let out a breath and brought one hand up, resting his forehead on it. He felt Meteor give his shoulder one more soft pat before the boots moved to the edge of his rock and stayed there. He could see all kinds of light blooming in his peripherals and looked up to see Ori. He was healing him... Oh, there were his nerve endings. He realized now he was injured from everything getting a hold of him. A little more of his mind came back to him and he simply reached up to Ori, shakily running one knuckle along the bottom of his shell.

The ghost finished healing him and just stared, somewhat perching on the unsteady hand. Their connection had been interrupted by the trigger, but it was back now as though nothing had happened. ..._We knew this would be tough,_ he said after a short while. _We've made it past the first hurdle. I know you can do this._ He looked sharply into Schade's eyes. _You'll have me wherever you go. I promise._

Schade stared at him in silence for several seconds. The first hurdle... An airy laugh came from somewhere, and it took him a moment to realize it was him. "It really was a beginning... Wasn't it...?" His voice was hollow and distant, still trying to reel his mind back in.

The two spoke without words, just eye contact for even more time. There was talking in the background, likely the rest of the fireteam trying to come down off of a combat high now that they've found a safe spot to sit for a moment. It wasn't until more boots drew near that Schade was reminded there were others so near to him.

Trish was quiet and careful, perching low on her heels in front of Schade with her hands on her knees. Her expression was hidden behind her helmet, but the tone in her voice shaped it for her, being uncharacteristically soft. "You okay, boss...?"

Though his hands had been shaking for a while now, he just realized just how badly they were. It was bad enough to make Ori look like he was shivering from resting on his knuckle. He took another slow, deep breath in hopes the tingling in his face would go away. Or that maybe the aching in the back of his skull would, instead. "Think so..."

She nods, eyes searching his form briefly. "You'll have to tell me about this place once it's all over. Who it is you're coming back here for."

He thought about that now... Was it for Civil? Did he truly believe what his heart told him, that his brother was alive down here? That he could somehow be found and rescued after all these years? Or was it out of remembrance? That this struggle was for vengeance in his name? Or was it purely for selfish reasons, a sort of proof that he could do this now? Why was he here in the dark, putting everyone through this hell?

He caught himself just then... He recognized those thoughts. He'd had those thoughts for years under Omnigul's influence. He forced a fake smile and rubbed his face tiredly against his hand, forcing his mind to be clear through sheer willpower. "Maybe," he finally said in answer.

"Hey, you didn't bite my head off for asking," Trish said with a laugh to her tone. "And here you thought you couldn't be fixed."

Schade was about to say something in return, but his thoughts petered out when he suddenly felt tension mount in the air as someone nearby started to panic.

"H-he's one of _them!"_ Kenta had suddenly sprung up from his hiding place betwen the rock and Cirune, eyes wide as he aimed his sniper directly at Schade.

Meteor's and Trish's response was so sudden, their armour popped with the ready speed of their weapons. They stood shoulder to shoulder in front of their fireteam leader, both guns pointed at the less sane hunter with the heavy weapon.

Schade wasn't quite as quick to his feet, but he got there. He peered past his two defenders to see the shivering barrel of a long rifle pointed at him from Kenta's hands. Cirune was next to him with his hand out, trying to reason with him to no avail as the hunter held his ground. His helmet was on, but Schade knew the man had madness in his eyes. _Ori, you stay back. _His hands, tingly as they were, were relaxed and ready to draw. _Just in case this guy gets it in his head that someone needs to die their final death tonight, you're not going to be it._

"The hell are you doing, hunter?" Deliah had her weapon in her hand, ready to aim it, but unsure as to which of them was the target.

"He's one of them," he reiterated breathlessly. "I saw it... I _see _it, he's one with the Hive! He holds their power!"

Meteor leaned forward with his weapon ready, finger on the trigger. He was ready to shoot the guardian in front of him, but his voice betrayed him. "Take a breath, friend. Ye don't need to be takin' this path." He was quiet and calm, his voice a low rumble like distant thunder. It was a warning.

Victor sighed quietly from the sidelines. "We just can't get a break..."

"Kenta, listen to me," Cirune started from a couple steps to his side. "I came back to get you out. You've been stranded in the dark for too long, your mind is playing tricks on you–"

"Can you not... _See_ it?!" Kenta's voice had strained itself into a terrified, frustrated shout.

"You are one crazy filho da puta," Trish hissed.

"No, he's right!"

Meteor and Trish all but flinched, and all eyes turned to Ori. The ghost was looking at his guardian, who in turn was staring at him aghast. "E-exc_use me?"_ Schade was suddenly as confused as he was terrified.

"Not like that," Ori corrected as he floated around his guardian's head. "There's something here... It's _glowing_ on the back of your head!"

"W-what is?" His hand went up to the spot in question, feeling for anything even though he was wearing combat gloves. When he touched the base of his skull and down the back of his neck, it wasn't his hand that felt the difference, it was the spot itself. It burned like hot needles into his spine, an amplified version of the headaches he got after every night terror he ever had.

Meteor had stepped to him, going as far as turning him around to look at it. "Looks like Hive writing... When did ye get this...?"

"Oh hell if I know!"

Ori squinted, some jittering chirps and buzzes coming from his core. "How did I not notice that? How could _I_ not notice...?"

"How long has it been there?" Trish was now staring at him, weapon down in uncertainty.

Schade felt all eyes on him and it was making him nervous. He suddenly felt like a target. "I dunno! L-look, it's not like I went to some Hive drinking party and was the first to fall asleep, just get the shit off of me!"

"I've healed you _thousands_ of times and never noticed this thing," Ori said as he looped around to scan it. "...It's some kind of inscription. Comparing it to the symbol database, it says..." He chittered for a moment. "...It's rough, but I think it translates to 'door to stolen lies'?"

"That's great, can you _get it the fuck off of me?"_

Ori shook his core. "No, not without the right amount of power to examine it, and here is _not_ the place for me to be using up my Light trying to figure it out. It's like it's a part of you, even according to my sensors."

"He's become one with them..." Kenta's voice was rough and airy, conspiratorial. "He's dragged you all down here to kill you too! He's a Hive in guardian's clothing!"

Cirune carefully reached to take the sniper by the barrel, but Kenta scooted away. "Kenta, put your weapon down. He brought us down here to lead a rescue and fight back against their ringleader, not kill us all."

Deliah was just as tense, looking between everyone. "What was it that awoken guy said on the Tower...?"

Kenta had his finger on the trigger. "He's leading us right down to their leader! None of us are going to make it out of here alive!"

Just when things started to escalate, Kenta was suddenly punched in the back of his helmet hard enough to crack his visor open and send him sprawling forward to the ground. Standing just at the man's boots now was Victor, his clenched fist rippling briefly with void energy. "I think that's plenty out of you," he growled quietly, then moved forward to kick the rifle away from his hands before he could find it again. He crouched down in front of him just as he picked his head up, looking into the now dazed human's eyes. "You thinking a little more clearly? Just needed a little percussive maintenance to get things straight?"

Kenta made a wobbly attempt to get to his hands and knees, looking around with an expression as though someone had rearranged all the furniture in his house. As soon as his weight shifted, Victor had nested his hand in the man's cloak, pulling him forward in a gesture that sat somewhere between security and threat.

"You've been rescued. Now stop trying to get us all killed." He leaned back and made a general gesture to the closely-knit three behind him. "They're here to _help,_ you understand? We're putting an end to Crota and all his bullshit, rescuing any idiots we find along the way, which includes you, and _they're_ leading the charge... You got that?"

Kenta's eyes flicked around to the guardians, resting on Schade before he looked back to the warlock that had him by the collar. He nodded briefly. His eyes now had a bit of clarity to them and his body language was vastly different than how it was when they first found him.

"Good," said the exo as he stood, helping the hunter to his feet. "Then we can stop having a bad time, move on deeper, and just _forget about the horrible shit the Hive have put you through...?"_ His gaze likewise turned to Schade. He was addressing them both. "Because I kind of want to drink some tea after this mess, and I doubt it's any good down here..."

Schade paused for the barest moment, then simply reached back to pull his hood back over his head. Tense as it was, it was still a break. They had been standing there long enough to feel their Light slowly balance back to normal. He gave a nod to the warlock, violet eyes sharp in the dark.

Cirune was there to steady Kenta with one arm. "Then we press on... None of us have been this deep before. It will be new territory for all of us."

"We can take it," Meteor said with a nod, turning to face their fireteam leader. "Right, Schade?"

He took a breath and nodded. "Further down, further in," he resolved. "Whatever we face, it'll be at the end of our barrels."

"Oh, we got this." Trish smiled in her whole body, laughing as she turned to Schade and threw her arm over his shoulders. "Besides, it's not like some of us have never woken up from a party with a bad tattoo..." Schade couldn't have rolled his eyes harder as he pulled her arm off of him with two fingers.

Victor cursed and looked back into the pitch beyond the chasm. "...My rifle is out there on the ground in those rocks."

Meteor chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll never run outta fists!"

"Ahhh, god..." Deliah had taken only a step around the rocks and was looking at something... Some_one._

As they all moved toward her, they could see the mangled corpse of a warlock. His robes looked both burnt and torn, especially around his chest where he looks to have nearly been flayed open. His damaged hands grasped at nothing and his helmet was shattered. His eyes, foggy sunken after having been long-deprived of a pulse, stared blankly upwards into the next world. What was seen of his face showed nothing but fear... The man had died terrified.

Cirune stepped forward with a broken whisper. "Oh, Marcus..."

Deliah frowned as the titan knelt by the deceased man's side. "One of your warlocks. And your hunter said your titan went down in the dark back there... How many are left?"

"Just one." It wasn't the titan who'd spoken. It was Kenta, now seeming much calmer. He looked solemnly down at Cirune as the titan mumbled something over their warlock friend. "Firia-7, another warlock... She is the last."

Cirune silently unbuckled the warlock's bond from his arm and held it for a moment. He looped it around his left forearm and fastened it there, finding it to fit securely enough to continue. "You will guide my shots, old friend," he said as he reached forward and closed the man's eyes.

Kenta stared a bit. "They took his Light by force..."

Victor cringed quietly. "Ah, so that's what I would've looked like..."

Schade drew up near them, distant sounds catching his ears like reeds in a river. "If your last fireteam member is still alive, then we can't stay here. Not after this." His tone was gentle, but he knew now that they couldn't linger. Not after seeing the condition of Marcus's body.

Cirune rose to his feet and held his rifle, the fallen warlock's bond resting on his leading arm. "On your lead," he nodded. He was more than ready to continue.

Schade nodded, and everyone began to move. Everyone but Kenta.

The hunter stared down at Marcus's body as the rest of the fireteam passed him. He was new to Cirune's fireteam, but the warlock before him had been a wonderful, upbeat man. It was just yesterday they were laughing about something weird and he'd said he judged him for it. He had told himself he'd get to know him better. Now...

A hand touched his shoulder. He looked left to see Schade passing him, withdrawing his hand as he moved. He had his rifle by the barrel in his left hand. It was only after he'd passed did he put weapon back in both hands, ready to use. It was a sign of trust, that he would disarm near him and not be afraid. It was something hunters understood, and almost never communicated. Especially after the interaction they had just shared moments ago. He stared at his back as he walked away, lips slightly parted.

_ Are you going to be okay? _Aiko rang in the back of his mind.

He thought for only a moment, then took a breath and moved forward. _I think so._ He jogged a bit to catch up, seeing more than one guardian look back to make sure they had everyone. The hallway spanned before them, lit with an ethereal glow that cast broken, eerie shadows through the stone pillars. Amid the shadows, seven hard lines were cast as the guardians advanced.

None of them had any idea what they were getting into now...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- There is a LOT happening here, guys. And I don't just mean balancing raid mechanics and mental issues, there are MANY things happening here that will be used going down the arcs. I had already communicated in previous chapters that there are some time-travel shenanigans being had, but that's not the only thing going on here... And it won't be the last time this sort of thing happens.
> 
> \- This chapter didn't start out anything like I thought it would. I was stuck between opening with Cayde getting his ass chewed for leaving to Venus on "lunch break" and having the first bit be a random patrol team spotting them jumping into the Hellmouth and reporting it to the Vanguard... The reason for that last bit will probably be touched on later. Having Schade present me with a tame flashback was unexpected and refreshing, and we get a glimpse of how he used to be. He, Civil, and Kace used to be incredibly close, after all. It also shows hints at just how different Schade's relationship with Ori was back then. They weren't nearly as close back then, but more on that later.
> 
> \- So here we find out what's been causing Schade's terrible skull-burning sensations every time he's influenced into fear by the Hive! And yes, Ori's translation of the text is as accurate as I can get it. The three runes on the cover are the runes on Schade, and they do roughly translate. Sort of.
> 
> \- I'm unsure if I mentioned this earlier, but Schade is an empath. He can sense emotions around him, most notably when they get intense. If someone is angry, he himself will tense up. If he lingers around a happy group, he inevitably feels great as well. Sensing sadness, he will either move to comfort or give distance, whichever is needed. His biggest fault, however, lies in when he senses fear, as he feeds off of this and becomes very predatory in response. This ability is a constant in his personality and usually why he can be confused by his own emotions in certain situations, as he's not entirely sure if they're truly his feelings or if he's just picking up and projecting someone else's. This can lead to some... Comically uncomfortable situations.
> 
> \- The story behind Victor's ghost is notably funny. I had no idea what to name the little guy, and seemingly at random, my brain recalled a very old Life cereal commercial where these kids are picking on their youngest brother, particularly one named Mikey. When the otherwise incredibly picky eater decides the cereal is good, one of the others excitedly exclaims "He likes it! HEY MIKEY!" I was so tired at the time that I giggled, and decided that was his name, and Victor views his ghost as a little brother.
> 
> \- Today I learned there is a British thoroughbred racehorse named Filho Da Puta, and he was a successful horse... I am slowly learning funny things as I go, and I hope to learn so many more. lol
> 
> \- Meteor is still THE BEST JUMPER.


	12. Blackout

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The life of a guardian is an eternal one, should their ghost remain untouched. It is a life of loss, and the idea of self-sacrifice is often bent into the state of a temporary idea. A guardian is a reckless creature by nature... And when nature takes over, that which is ignored can easily spell doom for the fools who partake in the hunting of gods...

**Blackout**

The walk through the hallway seemed to take forever. It wasn't long enough to become lost in thought, and that's what made it feel even longer. There were no bones here. At least, not in their walking path. Perhaps it would have been a neat walking path of squared stones with the stone pillars breaking the straight line, but the floor was laden with dust that hid the depth of cracks. Bones piled up against the walls in drifts of stale slough, and the pillars started to look more like tombs. It was easier to see now, the whole place lit a dim, cool green-white as though wetted by mist. It was oddly reminiscent of the Black Garden, only much, much darker and the halls reeked of death. Somewhere in his wandering mind, Schade wondered if the Darkness itself had an affinity for green...

No one spoke. With the titans on high alert, the others understood danger was still close. They moved as a unit down the hall, silent except for the whisper of titan boots on ashen stone. The guardians drew up to the end of the long hallway, staying low and silent as they entered the surreally open-air room at the end. How such an environment was possible in the core of Luna was beyond their understanding. They emerged on one of two large platforms, each a seeming landmass divided by a green-fogged chasm the depth of which they didn't want to consider. Stairs led down to the lower level of their platform, where yet another familiar script-inscribed disk was set into the stone at its edge. Sparse and uneven towers of stone poked up from the haze like stalagmites, some thin structures even lingering between the two massive platforms. The second landing, a veritable superstructure, loomed over them like a pitch-black castle adorned with the glowing sigil of Crota. It looked like it had been painstakingly carved from a layered tube, its immense top appearing to have been snapped off and hollow to exude a languid green fire from deep within. Hanging over them in the impossibly present sky was what remained of a shattered sphere, its pieces slowly moving and hopelessly clinging to its much smaller, lifeless core. Soulfire milled around its center, but amid its typical green wisped the different, unsettling colours of mint and black.

Their ghosts all collectively shrunk down into themselves, reflexively hiding from the energies even though they weren't even physical at the moment. One of them was about to make an assessment of the area when something was heard below. Something of deep and profane syllables and grinding vocal tones, varying shudders of sound between the solid noise of chitin armour.

It was Hive chatter. Acolytes growled in Deepspeak to each other, the language somehow both smoothe and feral at the same time. Knights rumbled here and there amid the grouping, their sparse, calm voices deeper and just that much louder than the acolytes. Even the few thrall dotting the corners had something to say, whispering shyly amongst each other as they slunk around the edges of the area... Collectively, they were all searching for something.

It was a view of the Hive rarely seen... They weren't mindless. They had cohesion and language and culture, just like everything else. As the guardians paused to take in the sight and hear the words, even their ghosts had taken it upon themselves to take recordings. If anything else, it would be of great tactical use to have these vivid references.

Schade was the first to move. His head ducked slightly in some subtle display of hatred, his expression unhidden now that he had left his helmet behind. It was clear he didn't find this rare moment nearly as fascinating as anyone else in the fireteam. Instead, he was focused on the fact that everything was gravitating toward one end of the platform, all their attention in one direction with their backs to them... It was all too enticing to not take advantage of.

Cirune was just behind him, crouched low with his rifle steady before him. He could feel the rest of the fireteam behind him, all silently doing the same in their own right. They had them all but surrounded when he felt a gentle tugging on his elbow, and he turned around to see Trish indicating to something just over the ledge. It was a pulse rifle, SUROS design.

_I'm detecting trace heat coming off of that weapon,_ his ghost said in his helmet.  _It was last fired just a few minutes ago..._

In the silence, a chirp across their helmets made them all jump. "There's a light signature down here," Lily said quietly over comms, making sure they understood the Hive couldn't hear her. "There's another guardian nearby, and those Hive are looking for them."

Aiko beeped afterwards, her voice somewhat fuzzy through Kenta's broken helmet. "It has to be Firia..." She still sounded rough.

Schade's searching eyes scanned the shadowy realm around them, taking in every detail. Not much more than a couple seconds passed as he looked to the great abyss before them, the troops in between, and then back to his fireteam.

"Our way across is yet another bridge formation panel," Ori said through their helmets, though it was the exo's gaze they met. He was practically speaking through his ghost. "It's out in the open, in plain view. Rescuing your warlock will mean breaking directly through their forces and holding out for more. Three knights, twelve acolytes, and around ten thrall... We've faced those odds before in the Cosmodrome alone, but this _is_ the Hellmouth. We can't underestimate them."

"Then we fight." Cirune's voice was hardly above a whisper, though filled with conviction. "I came back to rescue my fireteam, and I won't turn back without them."

Trish took her turn to quietly speak, checking to make sure nothing had reacted to Cirune. "So, stealthy or guns blazing? How we gonna get that warlock?"

Schade was musing over the forces below, then turned to face her. His eyes flicked up to focus on something just behind her and Ori chittered in alarm before he raised his weapon. "Well, I would've preferred stealth, but–!" His own growling voice broke the silence before he opened fire and all guardians spun on the group of thrall that had just discovered them.

Weapons lit off, the thrall fell, and the Hive were suddenly on the move with a howling, collective screech. Already, they were once again fully engaged with the Hive. Amid the chaos, Tigger buzzed over comms. "I've found Firia's ghost, but I can't sync up with her. Something's wrong... I've got her helmet tapped instead."

Cirune shotgunned an encroaching acolyte, then turned to scan the area, looking for his warlock. "Firia, I've come back with a second fireteam, what's your status?"

The exo responding sounded as exhausted as Kenta had, and with the same genuine surprise. Judging by the lack of background noise, she had also hidden herself well. "Cirune? Traveler's mercy... And here I was ready to take them all out with me. Especially after they... After Marcus..."

"Your _status,_ guardian," Cirune repeated, doing his best to keep the warlock's head in line.

"Right," she breathed, obviously trying to do the same for herself. "I... My shields aren't charging properly. I'm out of ammo and Moth is barely hanging on after healing me from critical injury. I've been charging Light for what feels like forever, but without my ghost, I've only got one shot at... Well, anything."

"Stay where you are. Don't risk anything until the way is clear."

"Looks like we're gonna be mighty busy, then!" Meteor said as he was seen backtracking to the group, sighted on something coming at them from a gateway.

As the Hive began to thin from their efforts, a grinding grumble of something new and furious approached the fireteam. A massive swordbearing knight, dark and charred with embers fluttering from it as though it burned with internal hellfire, lumbered out of the darkness. It leveled its triune gaze at them for a moment as though to address them before rearing its head back in a roar that echoed through the pit.

"What in the Traveler's name is _that?!"_ Deliah forsook her hand cannon and brought out her shotgun to level it with the distant target's chest, though she waited with uncertainty as to whether or not she should wait for combined fire. "For the size of it, it looks like shooting it would just piss it off more than it already is!"

Schade tensed at it, his expression hardly anything else but a silent growl. "Anything will go from pissed to dead with enough firepower... Kenta, put that sniper to use. Put a nice drainage hole in its brain pan."

"With pleasure..."

"Make that two snipers," Victor said as he holstered his cannon and unfolded his own rifle.

Another laser traced ahead, and Trish scoffed. "You forget something, boys?"

As the swordbearer began to rush them, it was met with three long barrels and a scout rifle as Schade joined them on the target. The shots rang true, leaving vapor trails a few at a time directly to its chest and helmet as it staggered and stumbled through its charge... Then suddenly roared and began to sprint at them with renewed fire crawling through it's chitinous armour.

"Oh, shit!" Victor skipped back a step as he frantically tried to reload his rifle.

Trish was doing much of the same. "How many hits can this thing take?!"

_"Duck!"_

The four guardians didn't question the tinny voice, heeding it almost instantly as a rocket flew over their heads and made contact with the swordbearer's chest. The point of contact was close enough to them that it showered them with bits of viscera and solar Light-infused rubble. Schade looked up only long enough to see the small crater that was left of the knight before turning back to see a battered warlock just behind them. "...I like your warlock, Cirune," he said as he brought his rifle back up, tracking back with the others as they started to gather around the bridge plate.

"Same," the titan agreed as he dispatched the last acolyte in their presence. "Why do you think I came back for her?"

"As much as I'm grateful," Firia said as she tossed her steaming rocket launcher to the ground. "That was its final load, and it was meant for me... All I've got is my Light now."

"Don't forget this, sister." Trish drew up a bit closer to her, tossing the previously discarded rifle to her. "I split a share with you... I'm good at conserving my shots," she added with a wink.

Firia gingerly checked the magazine before locking it back in place. "I owe you..."

"You warlocks and debts," Schade said quietly with a look to Victor, who only gave a lighthearted shrug in response.

Cirune was watching her incredulously. "Your hand... What's happened?"

Firia looked at her own hand for a moment in silence, turning to Cirune after a thought rolled through her head. "I tried to... Rescue Marcus..."

"Heads up," Kenta said as he switched to his submachine gun. "More thrall, and... Oh, shit..."

Even Meteor tensed back a bit as three more swordbearers, all accompanied by a small pack of thralls and a couple acolytes each, came rushing in from the gates, now three open in the back of the room where they came from with even more Hive emerging. "Ye better come up with somethin' _real _quick, Schade," he growled in a hushed tone from just near the hunter.

Schade knew they wouldn't have the firepower to knock down all three swordbearers, not after what he'd seen the other take before finally falling, and especially not with all the backup these had. The answer wasn't to fight... It was to _run._ He glanced back to what he'd mentally snapshotted, eyes flickering as he looked back to the horde and began to back away. "You all better be feeling froggy, because we're moving, _now!"_

"What'chu got, boss?" Trish, with Meteor, was hot on his heels as the rest of the fireteam turned to run with him... Straight toward the yawning abyss ahead of them. _"...Other than crazy!"_

Schade glanced back long enough to see the swordbearers closing in on them with alarming speed, as well as everyone now dodging acolyte fire. "Plan B... No one slow down! Not one measure!"

Cirune cursed inwardly as he saw where he was leading them, making a leap to the first of a series of precarious pillars that jutted from the endless green mist below. The first two jumps looked easy enough, but by the fifth... "How the hell are we going to make this jump?!"

Despite the acolytes firing on them with renewed fervor now that the knights could no longer reach them, they were already on the fourth pillar.

"With maximum effort!" Victor was already psyching himself up for the hideous gap, his laughter seeping into his subharmonics. "Alternatively, if we don't die from the knights... Then we die from the fall!"

Deliah gave some long, quiet string of curses under her breath as the warlock in front of her simply began to laugh.

"I like those options," came the voice of Firia just behind her.

Kenta's voice was tense with both genuine fear and a hint of Victor's rather contagious laughter. "You're all insane!"

Schade's reactor jumped up into his throat as his feet hit the final column. He never slowed his mad dash, but his mind stuttered for a moment once he realized what they were up against. He knew it was a broad gap to an uphill jump, but _my God,_ was it a huge gap. The millisecond of thought that crossed his mind as his feet hit the edge of the pillar was of doubt, that they might not make this jump at all, but he drove as far as he could off of the edge of the structure and was suddenly airborn.

_ Don't look down..._

He felt himself sailing over nothingness, mist all he could see below.

_Don't look down..._

The barest sensation of gravity took hold and his cloak drifted upwards, and he used the Light for his second jump.

_Fucksake, don't look down..._

He could hear Meteor's Light lift just behind him, as well as Trish's second jump approximately where his had been. She seemed ever so slightly lower than him. The ledge before him was also just a bit lower than him.

_I'm going to make it... This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. But..._

With a hand and two feet, he landed just inches into the bare edge and sprung forward to turn and face the others. Meteor really was just behind him, grabbing onto the ledge in the same manner Schade had, just... A bit heavier. Trish, however, was indeed lower. Before his cloak had even begun settling from the rapid spin-around, he was already lunging for her, grabbing a hold of her wrist as she met feet-first with the sheer drop of the ledge. Either from the adrenaline or her long string of foreign curses or some combination of the two, pulling her up one-handed was easy.

Meteor had turned around just as quickly as Schade had, also just in time to grab Deliah by the arms and pull her to the safety of the ledge... Somehow, Victor had managed to sail to it just before her without assistance. And was also cheering the whole time.

Kenta hit the ground with a clumsy tumble, and Cirune was just behind him with a nearly-failed grappling of the edge of the platform. When others began to pull him up, he lingered only long enough to twist around and grab Firia, who certainly would not have made the jump otherwise.

They all managed to haul themselves over the otherwise impossible jump, all panting from the rush of it. Victor was still laughing, and Kenta was starting to join him.

The Hive were staring, likely at how insane that tactic was and just how unlikely it was that it had worked, and Trish grinned at them. "Hah! Chupam um pau, zumbis espaciais!"

Just as everyone had started to loosen up, all too soon did a rather comical scream from Kenta disrupt the relief. "We're not done yet, _we're not done yet!"_

As the others spun around and began opening fire on whatever it was that was charging them, Meteor was the first to give a verbal reaction to what they were up against now. "Schade, that's ten! There's _ten_ of them, friend!" As with the emblazoned swordbearers before, these massive knights were more of the same, but what flickered and burned from the cracks in their armour was a more intense flame of a mint-green quality... They were even _stronger,_ echoing the energies of the impossible world beneath their feet.

"From the frying pan to the fire!" Deliah had traded her shotgun for her submachine gun and was spraying the oncoming sentinels of death alongside Kenta, who wielded the same weapon.

Cirune lobbed a grenade downtown, which only succeeded in knocking a few of these gatekeeper knights aside before they were charging again. "Schade...?"

_"Run!"_

The command was all too easy to follow. Those who didn't dodge around all-too-near blades managed a high jump over them, the scattering guardians following the hunter deeper into the structure at a dead sprint. To hell with fighting that force, there were even glowing thrall beginning to flood out after them.

The roars of the fell knights gradually began to fade as they sprinted up flights of stairs into a deep hallway. For whatever reason, they weren't following. Before long, all that could be heard was the panting of the eight guardians and, eventually, the return of old bones crunching underfoot.

As Schade rounded a corner and slid to a halt, the rest followed suit right next to him. All were ready, aimed in the direction they had just come from just in case anything had followed them.

They stood at a ready silence for several seconds... Then Victor snorted. Kenta chuckled after him, and it brought about a small collection of relieved laughter from the whole fireteam. "Holy shit," the warlock said between chortles. "That was fucking inten–"

He was abruptly cut off by being suddenly and quite forcefully grabbed by the lapel of his coat, and it effectively ended the laughter from everyone. When he looked to the source of the grapple, namely Schade, he was going to argue until he saw the hunter staring up at the ceiling with an intense gaze. He traced his eyes upwards and briefly felt panic creep into the edges of his vision.

A low, quiet idle sounded above them, the purr of an ancient and arcane platform tormented into an instrument of death. Its blackened plates shifted briefly as hellish void energies licked along the insides before it fell dark and still once more. It was sleeping... It was a shrieker.

..._It was several shriekers._

Schade slowly turned away from the long corridor of death to face the fireteam. Again, Ori was the one to speak for him. _"No one. Make. A sound."_

The other seven guardians, now shocked into a terrified silence, were caught between staring at the numerous pseudo-demonic entities and nodding in profound agreement. As Schade finally released Victor's coat and began to sneak forward, they all slowly crept after him at a snail's pace. Every footstep was carefully studied, boots placed delicately between bones and loose stones, no one trusting a mound of dust to not have a pile of brittle chitin beneath it.

Schade had taken shriekers lightly before, but only because the Hive usually only deployed the heavy-ordinance constructs one at a time. They were effective, spraying an endless stream of void blasts at whatever they gazed upon, yowling endlessly as they fired until they were destroyed... Yet persisting as screaming fragments of its suffering and hateful soul relentlessly chasing whatever dealt the blow that killed it. One shrieker was enough for a well-trained guardian, but _this? _There must have been over _twenty_ of them, all purring quietly from their spots hovering just near the ceiling... _Sleeping._

No one dared a whisper. Even their ghosts refused to speak. The hallway was long and curved, and even more shriekers gradually revealed themselves as they went, but they were patient for this. They had all the time in the goddamn world. All it would take was one misstep, one awakened shrieker, and the whole hallway would become a litany of hellish screams and rippling void. They wouldn't just die, they would be _erased._

By the time Schade realized the ceiling was getting lower, he could practically reach out and touch the bottom of one of the shriekers he passed. He held his breath and slunk past one particularly low one, then looked back to check on the titans. Hunters, he knew, would have no issues stalking past the living structures. Warlocks could make it if they minded their bootsteps. But titans? No, they were not built for stealth. The only time he'd ever seen a quiet titan was when Zavala had made it his mission to see what his titans were doing at a suspicious terminal, or that one time Shaxx entered an arena match with Cayde...

Meteor, Deliah, and Cirune were no such titans. Cirune was doing the best out of the three, having holstered his weapons to keep his hands free for extra points of contact. Deliah had emulated him, but with only slightly less grace. Meteor, however, was struggling. As big as Lord Shaxx himself, he was practically holding his breath and twisting his shoulders around to avoid the slowly pulsing prongs of the constructs as they gradually came lower and lower to the ground. After almost losing his balance trying to avoid one and nearly touching another, he simply froze for a moment and stared at them.

The whole fireteam had stopped, staring in a silent, tense panic as one of the shriekers stirred briefly, a single green ember of its ocular rune showing amid vorpal flame for just a moment before it finally, wonderfully went back to sleep. Everyone quietly let out a held breath as Meteor, who had been awkwardly positioned with a wide stance and his arms out for balance, finally slunk himself down to sit on his heels. He looked at Schade and shook his head slowly.

No one dared a syllable, but Schade did the best he could with an encouraging look. Glancing around the bend, he motioned with his hand that he could see the end of the hallway. He made a general "calm down" gesture with both hands at the fireteam, knowing that they were all about to get impatient with the end in sight. To rush now, with everything closing in so tightly around them, would be their doom. Unlike how he thought it would be, there was absolutely zero cover to protect the fireteam if they should activate.

More than one of them visibly took a steadying breath before the group slowly pressed forward again. Schade rounded the last ridged corner and made note that it wasn't the ceiling getting lower, it was the amount of bones in the hallway piling higher. By the end of the hallway, there were much fewer shriekers, but the collection that remained were practically floor-to-ceiling.

He took a step, hesitated before putting his boot down, shifted it slightly and set his treads on a different set of bones. It was a femur, he thought. The old skull was tempting, for how stable it looked, but he wasn't sure if it would shift or crunch once he put his weight on it. They were nearly there, but something had him unreasonably on edge, and it wasn't just the hovering death sentinels idling above them.

Trish was right behind him, cautiously putting her toes where his had gone before her. The dust here hadn't been disturbed in years, it looked like. Though she wondered, since shriekers did disturb the air around them when they activated, if the easily removed dust was freshly set after a recent attack in this hallway. Did guardians usually even make it this far? Studying the dark doorway just before them at the end of the hallway, she doubted it.

Meteor was doing the best he could in the narrowing surroundings. He couldn't take the same path Schade had. He was more than twice the hunter's size, all jokes aside. When he and Trish ducked below two closely-hanging shriekers, the giant exo maneuvered around to the side and tried to keep bones from breaking under his boots. He stepped forward and suddenly felt his stomach knot... It wasn't him. Oh, he hadn't done anything wrong. No one had. Then...? He halted where he was, instinct drawing his gaze back to the injured warlock they had just picked up. He wasn't the only one to sense a sudden tenseness, seeing Cirune and Deliah looking back to her as well.

Victor felt something wrong with the titans and looked up to find them all stopped, glancing back to see what they were looking at. Firia was just behind him, but she looked unsteady... Too unsteady. Kenta was reaching out to her, but it was already too late.

A single misstep.

It was a rib under the dust she stepped on.

The snap was so loud, it danced through the length of the hall.

Schade spun his gaze back to the tune of two guardians losing their footing and a single shrieker opening with a rumbling snarl. Its optic angled directly down to them as three more responded to its noise. "Go, _go, GO–"_

His command was drowned out almost instantly by the cacophony of demonic screams, the voices of dozens of tormented golems violently waking from their slumber. The entire hallway turned a brilliant purple with the light of their cores as they relentlessly sprayed blasts of void energy at the scurrying guardians.

The sprint through the door was a short one, no more than three seconds, but the sheer torrent of damage was more than enough. Though difficult to hear, multiple shields ruptured as dust and burning void filled the stale air around them.

Schade dove under and between two final shriekers before the blasts hit him, scattering his shielding and burning through his armour, sending him rolling clumsily down the hill of ancient bones. It was suddenly dark and for a moment he thought the change in volume meant he had been killed, but the thought was banished by Trish careening into him with a pained grunt. He focused in time to see Cirune and Victor launching over afterwards, then Deliah with Firia. Meteor came tumbling down just before Kenta, who slid down on his side.

No one was on their feet. Luckily, they were out of the shriekers' attack range... They had all made it. No one had shields and they had all taken damage of varying degrees, but they all made it. Past the ringing in their ears, more than one ghost buzzed through their helmets until Ori spoke. "Sound off, is everyone alright?"

Victor grunted from his awkward laying position, waving his hand as Mikey hovered around him. "M'okay," he decided as his ghost started erasing void burns from his coat.

Cirune grimaced as he dislodged a stray ulna from his armor, flexing his elbow for a while to feel for any damage before giving a winded nod to Schade. "Operable..."

Deliah was frantically trying to brush off a lingering ripple of void. "I'm _never_ fucking doing this again!" She would be fine.

Trish was already finding her feet and moving to Meteor, who was in a daze trying to get steady on his hands and knees. "You okay?"

The titan found enough balance to lean around into a sitting position, hissing a bit as his armour crawled with the remnants of void blasts. "I'll make it," he said breathlessly, humourless. Lily was already out and trying to heal the massive amount of damage he'd just taken.

"Shit, we got problems," Victor said as he found his footing and started to move.

Firia was not getting up from where she lay mostly on her back, one arm moving in a slow stun as she apparently was trying to roll herself over to no avail. Cirune was already there and trying to sit her up, but she was clearly very out of it. Her ghost wasn't coming up. Moth hung from a looped belt at her side, only flickering slightly as though in the same state. Deliah hovered over her, crouched, and shook her head. "She's bad, Schade."

_"Jesus,"_ Victor grimaced as he knelt by Kenta, who looked blearily pale behind his broken visor as he pulled a long, sharp bone out from between the plates of his chest armour.

As soon as he'd coaxed the ten-inch-long splinter from his ribs, he let out a tight breath as his worn-down ghost came out to make an attempt to heal the grievous injury. He tried to laugh, but it came out as a cough. "Of course... A hallway f-full of shriekers... And it's a fucking... _Bone_ that... Gets me..."

Schade got up and moved to the both of them, knowing full well they couldn't continue like this. They all took some serious damage, even if not all of them showed it, but these two were seriously injured, and their ghosts were past their limits.

_They won't make it down here._

He frowned at Ori's words in his mind. It was the truth, but he didn't have to like it. "...Kenta, how big is your ship?"

The other hunter looked up at him after a moment, still looking dazed and unhealthy despite his ghost's efforts. "Uh? M-my ship...?"

"Yes, your ship. What kind of ship do you have?"

He blinked hard, trying to recall the ship while still coming down from a combat high. "NS66... High Water...?"

Schade glanced down to his mental image of the ship as Ori phased out beside him. They shared a look before he nodded back to the wounded hunter. "Big enough."

"H-huh...?"

Cirune looked skeptically from Schade to the two downed guardians, then back to him. "A transmat? From down here...?"

Aiko floated unevenly upwards from Kenta, apparently having given up on fully healing him in one go. "I can't even detect the ship from down here. Moth isn't strong enough to be fully_ conscious_ right now. Do you mean for us to _walk_ back...?"

Ori was eyeing her. "...Tigger, can I get your help for a moment, please?"

Trish squinted as the orange ghost misted quietly into view. "Um... Okay?"

"Can you detect the ship?"

Tigger looked like he thought for a moment, shell opening a bit and making him look like he was "listening" to something far away. He blinked and flared wider, looking upwards in the dim room. "...Yes, there it is."

Deliah made a surprised face. "He can see that far?"

Aiko squinted at the scarred ghost. "What are you doing...?"

Ori had at some point drifted downward just enough to get a look at Moth, just shy of actually scanning her before having situated himself perfectly between her, Aiko, and Tigger. "Can you pinpoint its _exact_ location?"

"Of course," Tigger said with another glance upward. "It's engines are cold from being stuck in geostationary orbit for so long, but there are several different signatures I can–"

Ori didn't wait for the how of it. What looked like little chevrons briefly flickered on either side of his optic as his shell flared open, catching all three ghosts in a pulse of light. While all of their optics became brighter from it, the two awake for the process briefly looked startled before the two injured guardians and their ghosts disappeared. As soon as it had come about, the light faded and Tigger's optic returned to its normal brightness, leaving the ghost to quickly hover back a bit from the other as though suddenly afraid of him.

Cirune, who had been holding Firia at the time, looked to the ghost with now empty arms before turning his gaze to the hunter who owned it. "Can... Ghosts can do that...?"

"I've heard of them," Victor said from where he knelt after having tried to help Kenta. "Shell-jackers... _Possessors..."_

Ori turned sharply to the warlock at the tone used for the name. That _name._ His shell had drawn downward into a scowl as he defensively hovered back a fraction of an inch, but the comforting familiarity of Schade's hand came up beneath him, gently pulling him back home.

"Moving on," Schade warned, allowing Ori to beat a hasty retreat back into his psyche. "We're waiting here until our ghosts can properly heal us. In enough time, they'll have enough Light... And we could use the break," he added as he looked up. He didn't realize they had fallen into a hole. "Not to bring the powers of Murphy raining down on us, but it's quiet here. We need to use this."

"This dummy sure does," Lily groused as she very gently bopped Meteor's helmet with the bottom edge of her shell. "Don't think I didn't see you being a meatshield for the rear group!"

Deliah gawked at him. "You what?! Against _shriekers?!"_

The titan shrugged where he sat, still obviously unwell. "Was a good decision..."

Trish shook him by the shoulder she had been holding on to. "How so? You got shredded back there!"

Meteor leveled his unseen gaze on her, still uncharacteristically serious. "I had shields, they didn't... In this situation, it's better t'have a bunch o' wounded guardians than a dead one."

Schade suddenly looked down at the titan, pinning him with a hard gaze for hearing his own words from the Black Garden paraphrased... He was a terrible influence. He finally let out a breath, shaking his head as he patted the titan on his other shoulder. "...Rest here," he said, turning back to the others as he found a ledge to sit on and glanced to a short hallway nearby. "Take the time to recollect yourselves. Something tells me we're in for a real fight once we leave this room..."

Ori sat silent in his mind, aurally drawn inward on himself as the fireteam made themselves comfortable. Had he a physical form at the moment, he would have still been scowling at the strange guardians and their ghosts. Defensive thoughts tumbled endlessly through his processor and would have continued were it not for the ping he got, and the half-second-long conversation began.

_You're... One of those?_ It was Tigger, sounding somehow even more shy than he already did.

Ori felt himself tighten down further. He wanted to respond with something, but he knew nothing he could say would come off as anything but unkind.

There was a long pause before Tigger continued. _I had no idea. You seem so... Calm and collected all the time._

_I have to be..._

The noise from Tigger was a brief, digital quip of confusion.

_For him... I have to be, for Schade. He needs me._

_ It's true, he does. Just don't forget about yourself..._ He paused again, now seeing the pale ghost in a new light. _...It didn't hurt, by the way._

Ori held his silence, but the communication of tension was there.

_Every ghost who's ever been through a shell-jacking says it's very painful, and I can see precisely why, but... You're gentle._

He almost laughed at the notion, but the topic itself was awkward enough for him. _Gentle, huh? That's definitely a new one for the books..._

Tigger contemplated him for a moment. _How did you know I am an advanced comms platform?_

_It was something I had picked up on when I pinged you back on the Sardon mission._

_You... Picked up on that? From a ping?_

_ Yeah._

_ Ah, you have an Intrusion shell under that white coating?_

_ Yeah..._

They were both silent for a time, one thinking, one waiting.

_The paint is so carefully done, I couldn't tell at first..._

_ That's how it's meant to be._

_ ...Your guardian cares for you very much._

Another long beat of silence.

_ ...I know..._

_Firia?_

The warlock's head spun like a top. The last thing she remembered was the deafening cries of the shriekers as the entire hallway woke in response to her ankle giving out. No, there was something after that...

_Firia, can you hear me?_

Someone had grabbed her, trying to support her. It was the hunter just behind her. She wasn't doing well, and he knew it. He tried to help her, but he ended up falling right with her. It wasn't until she saw the titan sprinting back toward them did she realize just how close to death they were. Bless him, he took the entirety of the initial burst of damage. Somewhere in her hazy consciousness, she wondered if he had survived.

_"Firia, wake up!"_

She startled a bit at the sudden shake of her shoulders and tried to focus her eyes on the face before her. It was a fair-looking man with black hair that had her by the shoulders, the hunter from just moments ago... Moments? As her mind returned to her, she could see the inside of a ship. This wasn't the Hellmouth. "...Where are we?" She peered down at her own body, noting she wasn't nearly as injured as she thought she was. "What happened? Where is the fireteam?"

Kenta breathed a sigh of relief, allowing for a smile. "Relax, we're in the Tower Hangar. Our ghosts got enough Light from the Traveler's closeness to heal us."

True to his explanation, she sat up to see Moth hovering unsteadily nearby. "We were rescued, I assume...?" Her ghost guessed, her optic still somewhat dim.

Firia smiled, grateful to see her ghost recovered, but the relief only lasted a moment before she turned in alarm to Kenta once more. "The shriekers... What happened? Is the fireteam okay? Oh, it was my fault..."

"Relax," Kenta said with a few pats on her shoulders. Somewhere nearby, they could hear the sound of frames and boots running toward the ship. "You survived a whole lot longer than anyone expected that far down there, and I think the others are just fine."

"Yeah, other than the fact that you _both_ died before I could get us to the Tower," Aiko chimed in, seeming indignantly disturbed about something. "You know how awkward of a flight that is by yourself? After _that?!"_

Firia blinked. "After what...?"

"Ey, what happened?" Cayde's voice interrupted them, heard only moments before Ikora and a small collection of medic frames jogged up after him. "You two okay?"

Ikora moved around the hunter Vanguard to see to her warlock on the floor. "We recieved your ghost's transmission saying we had two dying guardians and not enough Light to bring them back. The two of you seem to be doing alright..."

Kenta first gave a glance to his ghost before looking back to the Vanguard. "I'm sure that's how it started, but we're fine. None of us are used to the Traveler having this much power again."

Cayde lingered in the doorway, moving just enough to look back at the medic frames and dismiss them. "You kids look rough... And familiar. Where did you just come from?"

Firia tried her footing now that her Vanguard had stepped away from her. "We were in the Hellmouth... I was part of this hunter's fireteam. We traced a high priority target there and were waiting for clearance to enter, but..." She trailed off, shaking her head a bit. "There were seven of us..."

Ikora turned a sharp look to Cayde. "The lost fireteam that eliminated Omnigul... Who rescued you?"

Kenta squinted briefly. "Another fireteam... Our fireteam leader was with them, but they were led by an exo hunter. There were six of them, not counting us... They intended to go deeper."

Ikora's expression hardened as she turned to Cayde, who suddenly had a dimmed look of concern to his face after the description. "That doesn't sound like a rescue party..."

"That's because it isn't." Commander Zavala stood at the entrance of the ship, looking none too pleased. "It's a raid team... I never authorized a raid, who the _hell_ did?" He turned a scathing look to Cayde, who likewise didn't seem to want to play this game.

"Don't look at me," the exo said with a shake of his head before starting to take his leave. "I'm actually not the culprit here this time..." He had to pull himself up with the top of the doorway to get around Zavala, who took up the majority of the space. No, he wasn't the culprit, but he knew who was...

Firia and Kenta looked on after Cayde's sudden exit, then to the pissed-off Commander blocking their exit, then to a concerned Ikora before looking at each other. "...Are we in trouble...?"

Cayde was already trotting down the first flight of stairs and rounding the corner at a brisk powerwalk, clearly miffed about it all. "Y'know," he started as he entered the hallway before the Vanguard office, "I should have questioned your motives when you asked me for a favour, and I _definitely_ should have questioned it when you asked for Zavala's authorization keycodes."

"So, they've returned a few already, have they?" Lord Shaxx was leaning against his desk with both hands, casually looking over a screen as Cayde strode right up to him.

"Yeah, they've returned a few... Two from the other fireteam, actually." He paced a bit, irritated with the massive titan. "Look, I know you and Big Z got a past, being students under the same mentor and all that, but... Do you _really_ gotta test the tension between the offices like that? With _my_ hunter kid?"

"He's ready," he said simply as he folded his screen down to close it. "Between the two he's chosen as his fireteam and the determination of the others that joined him, I believe they'll bring this... 'Hive god' to his knees."

Cayde shook his head, hands on his hips. "The Hellmouth is where this all started for him. Had a nasty mixup down there with the Hive that's not quite left his head on right since..."

"He posted that raid request himself... Do you not trust him?"

He caught himself there. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, that wasn't it. It was something else. It took seeing what it wasn't to question what it really was. He would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't grown an attachment to the young hunter over the last couple years. Watching him open up more recently had filled him with hope, and seeing him push himself further made him... Proud. He knew it wasn't about trust. "...I just don't wanna lose the kid down there." He shifted uncomfortably, looping his thumbs into his pockets.

Lord Shaxx shook his head. "You won't. He's too much like you," he said with a gesture to the hunter's posture, his smile audible behind his helmet. "He's tenacious, and so are the others with him... He'll return with everyone in tow, I know it. Otherwise, I never would have asked you for those authorization codes. He needs to do this, Cayde." When the exo didn't respond beyond a silent nod, he leaned forward a bit more. "If you had a second go at Taniks, would you take it...?"

Everything about Cayde halted, and sharpened. Only his eyes moved to look up at the titan. It was the same look anyone might have recognized from years ago, in the days after he'd lost Andal. "...Yeah," he said simply, his tone brief and cold. "Yeah, I would."

He nodded. "Then let him go. Let him avenge that which he's lost, and see just how brightly he burns when he returns."

Cayde gradually loosened up, nodding a couple times before detaching to go to the office. He was a few steps away before he turned back to Shaxx, finger pointed in a brief moment of hesitation before he spoke. "Does he... Do the pockets thing?"

"Yes, right down to the look."

Cayde simply chuckled with a shake of his head as he returned to his station. Maybe attempting a comms link would be worth it, if he could manage to reach them down there...

Schade had been staring at the doorway for what felt like an hour. Everyone had gotten as comfortable as they could in their little hole, gathering Light and healing when they could. They had long-since reloaded their rounds and checked their gear and had gone to casually sitting or even laying down on comfortable surfaces they found. No one wanted to move yet. Only somewhat isolated from the group, he peered out of their spot in the shadows to see the menacing hallway before them. It was well lit, which was a surprise at least, but he could see the short hallway break off into a large, open room. Arcane green energies licked across intricate stone and rippled in the little sliver of sky he could see above the stairs just through the doorway. There wasn't enough for him to make an assessment of the area.

He felt impossibly tense for a moment and glanced just nearby, finding Meteor sitting on the ground just next to where he was against an outcropping in the wall. The titan was staring off into space while the others mingled, being uncharacteristically still and rigid... It was worry.

He never liked seeing titans worry. "What's on your mind, Thumper?" He asked quietly with a gentle nudge of his boot against his elbow.

"...Death." The whispered response was definitely not what he wanted to hear. Even so, the titan looked up to him on that ledge and kept his voice down. "I sense _death,_ Schade... It lingers like a fog. I felt it the moment we jumped down. Hasn't let up since... It's only gotten _stronger..."_ He looked around Schade's leg to the hallway, the movement subtle and as quiet as his voice. "Whatever's in that room... It means to win. It means it..."

Schade tried to steady himself, taking a deep, silent breath after the grim words. He first looked to the door, then to the fireteam. Deliah and Cirune were talking strategies, what they should do with their Light for following engagements. Trish had taken the time to listen to Victor's stories, absorbing the older guardian's experience like a sponge. He looked down to the titan and nodded. "Well, let's make a liar out of it."

Meteor looked up at him and saw the fire in his eyes. He met his gaze for a time, unseen past his visor, then gave a nod before getting to his feet. "Aye, we got this," he said cheerily as he put his fist in his palm.

That was when he felt it. For the first time, he saw right through the titan's resolute attitude and into the truth of it... Meteor was afraid. Another deep breath, a couple pats to the giant's chest, and he got to his feet as everyone turned to look at him. "Think it's time we head in there and make a fool out of a Hive god... Everyone ready?"

Trish was the first to join him next to Meteor, looking pumped. "Oh yeah, totally ready for the mayhem!"

Victor tossed a bone over his shoulder. "Ready and waiting. Got any more jumps to sail over?" He chuckled a bit.

Deliah crossed her arms. "So long as you don't lead us through another hallway crammed full of shriekers, I'm game."

Cirune had approached him after getting up. "I had come down here to retrieve my fireteam... Whatever happens next, I will consider this a victory nonetheless."

Schade nodded, but Meteor's words hung in his chest like a chain. He tried not to show it. "We've come deeper than any guardian before us, I think... Let's issue a beatdown the Hive won't forget, then head back up and tell the Vanguard the story."

"Amen to that," Deliah said as they all grouped up facing the doorway.

Schade was about to lead them in, but paused long enough to see Meteor just behind his shoulder.

The titan held himself strongly, but he could feel the resignation in him. "I'm with ye, friend," came the whispered decree, and the only thing he could do was nod in reply.

As one, they all moved through the hallway and up the stairs, peering up into the dark green sky as another oppressive sphere loomed over them. The room was silent with its arching stairwells, all curving up without support into the next level above and behind them. A giant crystal was embedded in the floor above where they had emerged, halfway hidden behind carved pillars and archways. The platform before them, however, held the broken remains of a massive, brass-toned archway. Nothing moved, but they were all on high alert. It was true... The place reeked of death.

The fireteam split up, weapons drawn, and surveyed the area. There was little cover beyond the odd, small barrier here and there, as the stairwells were all open. Two overlooking chambers marked either side of the massive, open area, hiding etched doors within. For now, nothing was in the area. The guardians were alone.

"There's nothing here," Victor called cautiously from one end of the arena.

The notification prompted a grunt from Deliah on the other side. "I guess they knew we were coming...?"

Trish was in the long, windowed chamber around the crystal, walking around with her rifle shouldered. "No, this doesn't seem right," she said with a shaking of her head. "Look at this place... It's like they worship here. There should be plenty greeting us..."

"Agreed," said Cirune as he stepped up one of the curved stairways toward her. "This isn't right..."

Meteor had stuck close to Schade, the both of them uneasy for different reasons. They were up on the main platform overlooking the area, wreathed by the broken pylons behind them. Schade was staring up at the shattered sphere, watching its core in black and pale mint-green slowly pulse and appear to breath. He was about to say something when Meteor snapped his weapon around toward behind them and started backing away.

"Back up, _back up, _Schade," he growled, focusing on the pieces of broken stone just before they began to shiver and move.

Schade was just behind the giant exo, weapon drawn to the same area as they moved away at a healthy pace. "Guys, I think we've got contact," he said as they all regrouped on the upper platforms, three on each side of the stairs.

Trish drew her rifle just on the other side of Meteor, matching Schade's stance. "It's... Building something?"

Indeed, the pieces of etched stone were floating up and piecing themselves together along the broken edges of the pylons, creating a two-pronged shape on the primary platform. The sphere above them pulsed and the structure became charged, and between the two massive, curved spines formed the visage of Crota in a rippling phantom of soulfire. His three ethereal eyes bored into them with a sneer before the flames coalesced into a central point... It was a portal. From the horrid green fire and shadow came a blade, and hands emerged to grip it. The face appeared once more and the massive, knight-like form of Crota became more solid around it, eyes of hellish fire and armour of ethereal false light. He brought his sword up before him, blade facing outwards, and gripped it in both hands for a swordsman's greeting... He was to take honour in their deaths.

All at once, their ghosts chittered in brief panic. Ori spoke quickly. "H-he's suppressing the Light! Everyone, be ca–" He couldn't even finish his sentence before an unseen pulse of energy hissed through their helmets and their ghosts phased out before them, then immediately dropped to the ground.

The guardians collectively flinched and lunged for their ghosts as they fell, each having their own level of frightened disorder.

"Mikey? Mikey!" Victor held his ghost in both hands and gave him a little shake, retreating a bit behind Cirune. "What's happened to our ghosts?!"

Trish cursed as she picked up Tigger and shoved him into a cargo pocket. "I dunno, but it's a good assumption that we can't heal anymore!"

Deliah cursed unattractively as she wrapped her ghost in her mark after seeing Cirune do the same with his. "As if we didn't have enough problems..."

_"Origine...?"_

Meteor's gaze snapped from the ghost in his hand to the hollow-sounding voice behind him, seeing Schade in a stilled panic over the situation. He recalled a previous thought on how long it would take Schade to lose his mind without Ori and decided now was definitely not the time. "Hey, look," he acted quickly, moving toward him while the spectral knight was still making his entrance. "They're not dead. None of them are." He held Lily out to show him and tapped at her core, causing a dim light to flicker in response. "Whatever it is, it's only sent them dormant... Schade, we need yer head in this fight."

It took a moment for Schade to even react to Meteor's presence, finally looking up after seeing Lily's core try to light up. Whatever panic that had been layering itself over his gaze was starting to ease up, even if only just a little.

"They'll be alright. We just have to beat down the big Hive."

When Crota rumbled behind them and began to move about his platform, Schade finally remembered they were in active combat. He looked down to Ori in his palms, now dark and silent, then looked back up to Meteor. He drew in a breath, then gave a nod. _Just like the old runs with Civil,_ he told himself as he strapped Ori to his belt.

"He's coming to you guys!" Deliah called out over helmet comms, Victor heard nervously cursing in the background.

Schade refocused just in time to see Crota charging at them, sword drawn up already for a heavy strike. "Split!" He shouted, and the three of them all jumped in different directions, narrowly missing the massive blade as it came down and struck the stone hard enough to resonate in the platform. As Meteor and Trish dropped to either side and ended up on the lower level, Schade had rolled back toward the windowed chamber, scrambling back even further as Crota gave chase. He felt like prey running into a hole, and that didn't set well with him... Though with the sheer size of the thing chasing him, it wasn't like he had much of a choice.

"Looks like he's a fan, boss!" Trish called through their helmets, though it sounded like there was gunfire being traded from somewhere.

"Well," he started as he sprinted around the giant crystal, leading Crota back out the other side. "I did kind of _horribly mangle _his wife beyond recognition..."

Cirune sputtered over comms. "That was _you?!"_

Victor made the exact same sound. "That thing has a _wife?!"_

He cut a very sharp detour over the edge of the stairs right as Crota came down on his last position with the tree-sized blade. "Yes. And... Had. Omnigul is very dead now, thank God..." He flattened himself against a wall while Crota gave chase to the others, taking a moment to look down at Ori. _Hang in there, little buddy..._ He ran his thumb over the edge of his shell, sparking just the slightest reaction to his touch.

His thoughts were interrupted by a roar too small to belong to Crota and he looked up to see a smaller, ember-filled sword knight charging at him. Where there would normally have been a curse, there was only a tense huff as he maneuvered for a close-quarters dodge around the searing blade. He had to put some distance between him and the targets, even if only just long enough to get his weapons in order. Without their ghosts, they had no one to update them unless they communicated... It was a terrible time to hear a shield rupture. "Sound off, who was that?!"

Cirune was spotted using Light lift to float backwards away from a group of acolytes. "My group is fine," he said as Deliah lobbed a grenade to the group under him.

Before Schade could question further, the sound of Trish struggling caught his attention. He looked over to see her stagger back as Crota charged right at her with his sword back at an angle for a sideways strike, but Meteor had bolted forward with astonishing speed for a titan, putting himself in front of Trish and summoning a barricade right before the massive sword could swing. The blade made contact and instantly shattered the Light shield, sending both Meteor and Trish rolling off the side of the stairway.

Trish was quick to shake off the stun, but Meteor was having difficulty just getting up off the ground. "Shit, hey!" She ran to him and tried to get him up before the Hive closed in. "You gotta stop taking hits for everyone, big guy!"

Meteor grumbled in a daze and shook his head to clear it. "Well, ye gotta stop puttin' yerself in the line of fire, and I'll stop takin' hits for ye..."

"Above you!" Victor's voice called out over their helmets.

They both looked up to see the cyan flames of Crota on the stairs directly above them, his sword angled so the tip of it pointed down at them on the floor. He was just about to casually drop the blade on top of them when Schade sprung up like a pissed wet cat and slashed his dagger into the side of the massive knight's neck. It was enough to annoy him, but when the hunter pulled out a throwing knife and began using it to pry open the chink in his armour, that's when he got a little more verbal.

He roared and went to grab the tiny guardian over his shoulder, but Schade was just too nimble for him. Twice his claws grasped at nothing, once for each shoulder, before he resorted to whirling around with his blade arm, slashing at close range until he could see the hunter's cloak attempting a retreat. He followed the quick little strides with broad-reaching ones of his own, punctuating his movements with a flurry of sword strikes... Astonishingly, even to him, his target managed to dodge them all. When he stopped, and his opponent stopped with him just at range, it was enough to earn him a tilt of his helmet.

Schade's reactor was up in his throat. He could feel the resistance of Crota's shielding when he attempted to get his blades up in his personal space and it took everything he had to avoid those sword strikes... He knew the Hive had an affinity for swords, but this entity took it to a whole new level. He was incredibly skilled, and very agile to boot. He wouldn't underestimate him like he had done with Sardon. He didn't have Ori to back him up this time... But when he saw in his peripheral Cirune had gunned down the flaming sword knight on the lower level, he knew what he did have for backup, and a wry smile tilted his plates. "Hey, Meteor... What was it daddy's got again...?"

Crota squinted suspiciously at the hunter before turning around to the sound of a chuckle behind him. His three brilliantly glowing eyes met with the pitch black opening of a massive weapon perched atop Meteor's shoulder, the titan's smile all but audible. "It's a rocket launcher!"

The knight roared right as the ordinance fired, and Schade took a squirrely dive off of the platform right as the explosion rattled through Crota's shields. The arcane deity snarled and was about to make a reach for Schade before he could get the other fallen knight's sword, but was rudely met with a second rocket that struck square on his face. Amid the dust, the visible ripple of light from failing shields could be seen, and Cirune grinned from behind his own rocket launcher.

Schade gripped the hilt of the blade from the floor and turned up to face the Hive god. Oh, he could already feel the blade's dark influence creeping into the edges of his mind, urging him forward as it had done for Meteor back in the Cosmodrome. As it had done for him against Sardon. It put a glint to his eyes that worked well with the confident smile he'd acquired.

"Gogettim, Schade!" Victor jumped with his fists in the air while the thrall before him scattered with concern.

Trish was on the other side of the room, already loading her sniper. "Go kick his ass!"

Schade could see Crota's glowing form through the smoke and dust, knelt from the stun of taking a heavy ordinance rocket to the chest, then another directly to the face. "Oh, _gladly,"_ he growled as he sprung up a couple broken boulders, hefting the Hive blade like it was nothing while he sailed up and brought the gleaming edge over his head for a powerstrike.

Deliah rattled a few shots off at some acolytes, but found the time to cheer him on. "Hell yeah! Hit him like a titan!"

Meteor said nothing from where he was, only watched with hope as Schade appeared to be doing everything right.

"This is for our ghosts!" Schade snarled loudly as he aimed the jagged edge for Crota's neck and brought it down ferociously... And made impact with a sword. Everything seemed to stop for him as his gaze met with the other swordsman's, now positioned perfectly on an open and easily-manipulated block. He had been expecting this. He _knew_ this is what they would do, _could_ do with his defenses. The god smiled, and Schade's stomach knotted.

Before he could properly react, Crota had angled his blade and spun it around, managing to keep the edge of his sword locked with Schade's as he gracefully lifted him and flung him downward to the side, sending both guardian and weapon to the ground of the platform with a cringeworthy _thump._

Trish gasped, Cirune cursed, and Meteor's shoulders slumped.

Schade definitely had the wind knocked out of him from that landing. Disoriented and now fighting for consciousness, he could make out Crota's form take a couple steps toward him and stop. He coughed and his vision cleared, and he was able to look up at his opponent as the enormous monument of a creature grinned down at him. His senses coming back with a snap, he shot to his feet and reached again for the blade. "Alright," he breathed as they squared off again. "Just need to try that again..."

Crota offered little more than a crooked smile, then his free hand slowly came up above his head. He said something in Deepspeak that made Schade's brain itch, then fanned his claws open above him, and the very energy of the air reacted to him. Green whisps flitted around the arena before the shattered sphere so far above suddenly pulsed and became whole with blackened energies. The air went so far beyond oppressive, it was suffocating. The place suddenly became significantly darker, but was somehow also bathed in a cool green light from above. The skeletal-looking knight spoke once more, and it was like all of hell opened its gates on their location...

Burning circlets of Hive runes flared from all corners, bringing the shrill cries of wizards with them. More sword knights marched in from the shadows, and acolytes trotted forth in their wake. By the time the two ogres seemed to materialize upward from the floor on either side of the arena, the guardians were scrambling for any kind of cover they could find... There was none. The gasping groan of the shrieker hovering high above the center reminded them that there was nowhere to hide.

"Jesus Christ, what the fuck?!" Victor was backpedaling as quickly as he could, but the oncoming fire from the acolytes was overwhelming, and the shield rupture soon followed.

Deliah held the trigger on her SMG until the weapon clicked into silence, then lobbed a hopelessly weak grenade into an army of thrall as she switched to her sidearm, her last resort.

Cirune dodged a volley from the freshly-summoned wizards, deflecting most of the shots until his shields failed. "Fall back! Quickly, to the center!"

Trish spun around a knight and made a break for the center, only to be cut off by an ogre swinging its arm at her. She reached out to the Light with great effort and summoned her Golden Gun, but was only able to pull off one shot before the massive beast's claws smashed into her and sent her sliding across the ground.

The ogre roared and charged to finish her off, but Meteor had once again intervened. He dashed toward the stunned hunter and improvised, grabbing one of her knives and using his light to lob it as hard as he could at the beast's face. The result looked like he had launched a small lightning bolt that staggered it back. "Schade, ye better get down here," he called out amid the chaos, starting to lift Trish to her feet.

Schade didn't know when he'd nearly blacked out, but he blinked his eyes open as he staggered briefly on his feet. An unending string of whispers drilled into his mind, both foreign and familiar. His hand shot up to the back of his neck and his spine burned from the pressure. It was the damn mark... It was _Crota._ He focused up on the Hive god, who had taken to merely watching him with a smile. _"This is what you reap, dead thing,"_ Schade vaguely heard him say.

The guardians had all amassed in the center, surrounded by death and screams and unholy fire. The shrieker wailed as unsettling violet was added to the dark green whirlwind, and Meteor all but roared with the effort of summoning a Ward of Dawn around the fireteam.

Deliah tried to steady Trish where she wobbled, only just realizing she'd already been gashed on the arm. "Eyes up, sister! The 'ladies first' rule doesn't apply here!"

"I know," she hissed, trying her luck with her sniper while she was still shaking off her daze. "Those damn ogres... Where did all this shit come from?!"

Victor flinched downward a bit as a couple wizards flung their claws against the barrier and made it ripple unevenly. "Uh, guys? This doesn't look so good..."

Cirune jumped forward and supported Meteor, who looked like he was already buckling. "Come on, titan!" He did his best to encourage him through his cracked visor. "You've taken too much damage, we need to fall back to cover!"

Trish gritted her teeth against the pain in her shoulder, glaring at the surrounding enemies. "There _is_ no cover!"

The response from Meteor was a tired, coughing laugh. "I'm not doin' my job... If I'm the last one standin'..."

Schade felt drunk, and in the worst possible way. He was slowed and unsteady, and keeping his mind focused was like playing laser tag with a squirrel. He may have crossed a solid thought once or twice, but will have quickly fled away by the next string of incantations echoing in his numbing mind. A bright flash caught his eye and it dragged his gaze away from Crota... It was like watching a storm in slow motion.

The Ward had shattered, and Cirune had started firing with what little ammunition he had left.

The shrieker directly above the fireteam had detonated with combined fire from Trish's sniper and Victor's hand cannon, sending stray seekers of pure void energies scattering to the wind.

Two of the six wizards had grappled onto Deliah and were starting to drag her off, but Meteor had forced himself around and grabbed them right back, determined not to lose a single guardian under his watch.

Victor spun with an enraged shout as on ogre reached in to pin Meteor, its mighty claws smashing him into the ground hard enough to send a piece of armour flying off to the side of the arena.

_"This is what you have wrought,"_ Crota said unto Schade, his voice clear in his mind despite the maelstrom of chaotic energies around them. _"This is no place for the Light..."_

The small hunter watched in paralyzed, muted horror as his fireteam was cut down one by one. Meteor had stilled where the ogre had crushed him. Trish had just been slashed open by a wizard. Cirune turned too slow to meet the sword knight charging him. Victor was being buried by thrall. Deliah had faced off with a firing squad of acolytes and lost...

Schade slowly turned to face Crota once again, finding the Hive god standing where he had been this whole time. He felt sick. This was the death Meteor had warned him about. That _Civil_ had warned him about. He felt his grip on his stolen blade loosen until it barely hung in his hand. When Crota took a step forward, his numb hand slowly moved up from where it dangled and clasped Ori at his belt.

_I'm sorry..._

The blade rose up in the darkness, glinting hungrily with the energies of its wielder, obedient and direct.

_God, I'm so sorry..._

He felt himself draw one last shaking breath, then closed his eyes in surrender as Crota's blade came rushing down...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- So, this update took way too long, and for that I apologize. My reasons were fair until a few weeks ago, and then I had no excuse. So, here it is, at long last... And now I apologize for the cliffhanger. lol
> 
> \- I had to watch Mr. Fruit's playthrough of the raid through these last couple chapters to make sure I got everything right... Even so, I did say I was changing a few mechanics for the sake of brevity and flow. I wasn't about to make you all sit through multiple bridge formations, so I had Schade pull from his insanity and just jump the damn chasm. I've seen people do it on solo raid completions, so why the hell not? Also shortened was the final encounter with Crota… Because screw Ir Yut, she can go shriek in terror somewhere else.
> 
> \- Speaking of shrieking! I have wanted to write this segment with the shrieker hallway for SO LONG, my goodness. I loved that scene. No dialogue, all tension, and then the rubber band snaps... I definitely had fun writing that, and it was my favourite segment.
> 
> \- Here we get to see a bit of Ori's abilities and what makes him so unusual... Also, his full name toward the end there. I think I mentioned early on that I'm a fan of giving ghosts certain ability sets, and I'm expanding on that a bit more as we go here. Bottom line, Ori is a scary ghost, when you think about it...
> 
> \- Shaxx has always been very resolute and straight-standing, but he has also been known in canon to skirt the lines of how tricky a titan can be... He totally used Cayde's shine towards Schade to his advantage, which allowed him to trick the exo into getting Zavala's master codes and allowing Schade to do what the Vanguard wouldn't allow him to do, and that was essentially chase down his nightmares and destroy them... Also, intentional worried dad vibes with Cayde here. (Boy howdy, am I going to wreck that poor guy's nerves with this chapter's end...)
> 
> \- Meteor keeps putting himself in mortal danger here because he is still haunted by the loss of his original fireteam and what he could have done to prevent it. In reality, he would sooner die first than allow another guardian to die under his care. His final lunge at the wizards hauling off Deliah was less a moment of "let her go" and more a moment of "I have failed..."
> 
> \- I get the distinct impression that Firia and Marcus were a couple, and I just realized toward the end there that I've totally ruined that for them... Poor guys. >_>;
> 
> \- Since Omnigul, Crota's mate, put the evil mind-messing tattoo on Schade, I am assuming Crota has some power over it as well... The result is very damning for the whole fireteam, as you can see.
> 
> \- My good friend VonBrewskie: *casually quotes a great writer's mention of not being afraid to kill your characters*  
Me: *Vegeta voice* THAT'S IT! EVERYONE DIES!!


	13. Whispers In the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Defeat comes for all, eventually. But for a paracausal being, who decides the when of it? When life is forever, what are scars after that? Is it a coming to terms, or a fading?  
Join the fireteam in their final push against the Hive prince, Crota...

**Whispers In the Dark**

Silence. Save for the idle sounds around the room, terminals whirring quietly as frames worked the input screens, no one spoke. The Vanguard office was always calmly busy throughout day and night, but now at the crest of midnight, there was a subtle undercurrent of anxiety as one terminal loaded endlessly, searching for a comms connection. As the screen once again flashed up "connection failed," Cayde did his best to quell the irritated growl that threatened to boil up out of him.

Ikora saw the quiet sigh and frowned. She had been watching her hunter friend work tirelessly since the two wayward guardians had returned, eager as well to see the connection succeed. "How many frequencies have you tried?" She asked queitly, knowing the exo was nearing wit's end.

"Six," he responded with an airy tone resting somewhere between anger and nervousness. "Six frequencies. Maybe a dozen or so attempts on each, give or take..."

Firia leaned against a bookshelf just behind him, her amber eyes searching the floor for hidden answers. "He... Could be in combat. Or, the Hive... They could have jammed the ghosts...?" She didn't want to think of the possibility the entire fireteam was down. That just couldn't be. Not that crazy, fire-hearted group that rescued her from certain death. Her and Kenta had been so concerned that they had asked the Vanguard if they could loiter while they attempted contact. She reminded herself that she would have to thank them once this was all over.

Zavala closed out some windows on his own terminals, looking almost as disappointed. "Patrol teams in the area are scanning frequencies and finding nothing." He tapped a finger on his end of the table, eyes distant in thought. "Perhaps it was too soon for him to make the attempt..."

"This attack was necessary," Eris said from a ways behind Ikora. She was holding her glowing green artifact a little more closely, looking just a bit less comfortable the longer the radio silence continued. "Left unchecked, Crota has the power to raze this world to the ground... That guardian is down there," she reasoned, trying to sound resolute. She had a hard time quelling the memories of her own fireteam perishing one by one in the same place, all meeting a violent end while there was nothing she could do to save them. "He has to be..."

Cayde glanced up at her from his work, nodding. "For once, we can agree on something." He stared at the terminal for a time, then turned a look at Shaxx. The distant titan seemed so calm at his station, one might never have guessed they were all waiting for any sign of life from the missing team. Shaxx was always himself; bold, stoic, and purely confident, he carried on with the couple of guardians before him like it was any old day in the Crucible...

_ It isn't about trust,_ Cayde reminded himself. _Kid's deep in there, and he's fine. He's not down. He's fine._ He closed his eyes and rubbed his thumb up against his browplate, feeling the stress gathering behind there like a knot. "He's got to be burrowed in like a mole in that moon for frequencies to be this hard to come by. If I can just ping his ghost..."

"Maybe not... _His_ ghost...?"

All eyes turned to the voice a beat behind Cayde. Kenta sat obediently against the wall where they had ordered him, Firia fidgeting just at his side. He withered a bit under the sudden attention, but took a breath to steady himself. "Back in that hole, when Firia and I were injured, there was no way my ghost could have connected to my ship, but we were transmatted anyway with the help of the other ghosts..."

"That's right!" Aiko hovered up from his hands, seeming a little disturbed. "Before the fireteam leader's ghost... Did that _thing_ to me, he was talking to the other hunter's ghost, Tigger! I've never seen a ghost with such a powerful comms array before," she explained to the Vanguard. "If there's a chance of making a comms connection with that fireteam, Tigger's your best shot."

"The other hunter under Schade's command... Trish," Zavala remembered. "I've heard of ghosts with unique skillsets, so that's not out of the realm of possibility."

Ikora turned a look to Cayde. "Have you tried it yet?"

Cayde took a breath and tilted his head. "If he's not detected all the other attempts, I guess we can only hope he can pick up on a direct request." He was already gliding his hands over his screen before he'd finished talking. He had set up a communication line with Schade while he was in the Black Garden, as confusing as the end circumstances were, he could manage a link with him on Luna. As the terminal skimmed through lines of text before attempting the connection, Cayde found himself staring at the scrolling dots yet again. _Seven's the lucky number,_ he thought to himself as the office fell into silence again. _C'mon, kid. Give me a sign..._

Deep in the utter darkness, senses were limited. He could barely detect the passage of time. What once was excruciating pain had faded into a dull, buzzing ache. In the pervading white noise, there was nothing to alert his attention anywhere. Ori's voice had been silenced the moment the battle began. The distorted, faded ring he heard now was the only remaining echo of the chaotic storm that had killed them. As his mind slowly numbed deeper into oblivion, he was vaguely aware that his reactor had stopped a long time ago. He knew he was dead, and maybe that would have disturbed him if it was the first time he'd been killed. This time, however, he wasn't coming back from it. No, it wasn't the death that left the decaying vestige of panic in his fading mind...

It was the ensuing nothingness that approached like an evening shadow on the floor. Slow, silent, and unwaveringly steady. The gradual degradation of his senses, his consciousness, his very sense of _being..._ Is this what the thanatonauts experienced in their experiments? This overwhelming, unyielding stoppage of everything? He would have grappled for control, if he was able. He regretted how often he had flirted with the idea of a final death, how much he had taken for granted his ability to fight forever. Now that he had gotten a taste of it, he didn't want to die.

This couldn't be it... He wanted to fight. To panic, to rip into the real and keep on, to take_ just one breath._ If he took just one, he could fight for the rest. He would. He _wished,_ promised to nothing and no one in particular, that he would fight if there was just _one more chance_ to be had...

"So, that's it, huh?"

Everything stopped at the sound of the voice just next to him. _Is that...?_

"C'mon, little brother. Not like you to lay down on the job."

Despite how illogical it was, Schade opened his eyes to gaze hazily up at the vivid golden pair staring calmly down at him. The titan's dark brown hair was pulled back into a short ponytail save for a few wayward strands and shaved to bristles from the ear down. The moment they had made eye contact, the fair man's smile bloomed up into those fiery eyes of his. He was down on one knee, resting his arm on the other. He was every bit the same man he'd always known.

Schade felt himself choke, but the feeling only manifested as a deeply regretful knitting of his mechanical brow. "I'm so sorry..."

Civil smirked with a gentle shake of his head. "Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry about... Well, not _yet,_ anyway." The titan shifted just a bit to make himself more comfortable on that knee. "Guess you _would_ have reason to be sorry if you gave up here."

"I failed..."

"At what, exactly?"

As reason seemed to throw itself to the wind and he began regaining sensory function, the first thing he felt he wanted to do was cry. It would do nothing to help, but he felt as such anyway. "I brought them down here... I killed them all... I-I couldn't..."

Civil shook his head again. He laughed, his smile well-meaning. "You didn't have to come down here for vengeance. Not exactly something I'd want."

Schade frowned from his place on the ground, all of his markless surroundings the same green-white glow that, for some reason, didn't hurt his eyes. He contemplated that in silence, the topic having been brought up a second time... Why _was_ he down here?

"Maybe just seeing you come down here and face off with this monster is enough, huh? You've grown quite a bit... Figuratively, I mean. You're still short. I don't think that will change."

Schade almost smiled. Almost. Even in death, his brother had kept his jokes. His good spirit remained... He never doubted that would be the case. He was Civil, after all. The most resolute titan he'd ever met. If there were any that could hold the Light forever, it would be him. The idea that such a wonderful soul was gone stung on levels deeper than he thought possible. "...I miss you so much..."

The half-choked words softened the man's expression, almost causing that smile to waver. Instead, he looked down and nodded, quieter and somehow gentler. "I know. I know..." There was a beat of silence that almost seemed like hesitation, of not exactly knowing what to say.

"...Listen," he said at last, straightening to look at the exo again. "You've got a chance down here. I know it may not seem like it, but you do. If you don't dawdle for too long, you can make it."

"How?" Schade let out a defeated sort of huff. "I got everyone killed... The whole fireteam. Even after Meteor warned me, just like you had..."

Civil smirked. "Guess that's the best thing about being a guardian. You fight, you die, you learn, you try again... I'm pretty sure you've got this one in your hand if you get up and try again."

He almost growled. "I'm _dead,_ Civil... Actually dead."

"That's never stopped us before."

He halted on that. It was true, they'd died thousands of times. Every time their ghosts brought them back, they remembered just a little more of why it had happened. Even on their no-ghost practice runs, when death had been much slower closing in, they recorded in their minds what had led to each failure. Each learning experience. They had always been together for these times...

This would be no different. Despite his grief, his aching, his constant regret, his brother was still there for him. Always there to pick his little ass up when he dropped.

A ghost of a smile teased at the corner of his mouth. "You'll never let me quit, will you?"

Civil grinned, then rose to his feet. "C'mon," he said as he offered his hand. "Eyes up."

Schade hesitated for just a moment, then took a breath and reached up to take Civil's gauntlet...

He leaned forward heavily against the blade in his hand, gripping the hilt like a lifeline as his chest heaved. It was the only thing holding him up in his sitting position, he thought. His eyes opened before he was completely aware of it, his vision slowly clearing. He was gradually feeling more of his body and he looked to the deathblow on his chest... Or where it should have been. Ori was still dark and unresponsive on his belt, but the fatal gash he knew had been gouged into his chassis was now gone as though his ghost had healed him. All that remained was a burnt gash on his armour that ran a tall diagonal down his front. He could see the shimmer of his chest behind the jagged slice, untouched and shiny.

_ How...?_

Sound and movement caught his attention and his eyes focused up to see Crota staring at him from a couple of the giant's paces away. The Hive prince had a look of startled astonishment to his expression for a moment before he squared himself once more. There was a new gleam in the spectral knight's eyes as he held his sword before him in challenge, something of respect and acceptance.

Schade decided he would question his condition later. With less effort than he'd initially thought, he slowly got to his feet with the sword's help, hoisting himself up with the vertical blade. How it got stabbed shallowly into the ground before him was outside of his understanding, but he would contemplate this odd, grey miracle when he didn't have an opponent before him. He yanked the blade from the brittle, chitinous ground and brandished it in a perfect mirror to Crota's, accepting this duel with burning eyes.

There had been other Hive all around them, knights and acolytes and wizards, and they all quietly acquiesced to make room for the duel. What was about to transpire, it seemed, was to be unquestionably upheld. It seemed sword logic extended past the metaphorical and into the literal...

As Crota rumbled behind his blade, Schade's gaze sharpened upon him. "It's just you and me," he said to his opponent a moment before he flicked the sword back to be held like one of his knives, a practiced and comfortable position in the grip of the Light. "...Let's dance."

Crota roared and lunged forward, slashing the blade at a wide diagonal just as Schade nimbly hopped over it. It was all the prince could do to jerk the blade upwards again to defend himself from the guardian who now was faster and sharper than before. Their blades collided with equal force, sending embers of cyan and blackened silver rippling outward from the point of contact. Not one to be caught by the same trick twice, Schade skipped back a step before Crota could lift him and went for a second strike towards his legs. Crota had no choice but to step back a pace in order to block it, causing another ripple of ascendant power to flash away from the violent connection. When neither budged, they both looked into each other's eyes and shared an understanding: _Only one will walk away from this fight..._

Another breath was drawn somewhere off the way, and a titan gauntlet angrily flexed closed. Broken armour creaked and popped as the large body turned with the slow movement of the fist until it made a point of contact with the ground. It was almost a full minute before Meteor's senses kicked in and his tunneled vision settled, finding himself now mostly on his stomach after rolling over. Everything was blurry, muffled, and generally a haze. He could see the shapes around him and came to the conclusion that he was surrounded by Hive, but nothing was attacking. He blinked hard and forced himself to comprehend, but the element that did the trick was a reverberating staccato strike through his ears.

His senses came back to him in a snap when he saw what was taking place. Wreathed in the baelfire light of the oversoul above, Schade and Crota were bladelocked in front of the ascendant portal, both ineffably fierce and neither giving an inch while the hordes around them only watched in reverence. What he could sense was Crota's power waning, the lifting of the darkness palpable enough that he could see Lily's light beginning to flicker. But more important than that was a single detail, one that could be remedied: _Schade was alone._

He shot to his feet with a grunt and spun to find the other guardians, scrambling to the first one he saw and offering a portion of his own Light to Trish's ghost. "Lily, _wake up!"_ His voice was a growl a bit more harsh than he had expected of himself, but his spine prickled with the sheer amount of Hive just _standing around them._ Much to what should have been his surprise, his ghost actually responded.

Lily clicked and shuddered from her hiding spot in his mark, finding her way out with a wobbly, tilting spin. "Meteor...? W-what just... How did you...?"

As Trish began to stir from Tigger's renewed energy, Meteor went to reloading his battered hand cannon. "Don't question it," he said to the both of them, whichever might be listening. "Just get ready, get this fireteam going!"

Trish groggily sat up and rubbed at her helmet, thinking for a moment that it was her face. It wasn't until Tigger bonked her on the visor that she realized where she was. Her gaze flicked around to find Meteor helping Cirune's ghost by sharing Light with it. She vaguely remembered the titan being crushed, the first to fall, but she found better use of her cognizance once she realized the situation they were in currently.

"Oh, foda-se!" She skidded momentarily in her effort to both get her feet under her and simultaneously move to Victor just nearby, fully intending to help raise the team before the Hive could notice them moving and alive. Though it was then she realized they were already noticed. The knight nearby had even looked at her for a short second before staring back at the duel on the altar. "Do I even want to know what's going on here?!"

Meteor had moved on from Cirune to Deliah, briefly checking his damaged and now useless shotgun before looking around again, seeing much of the same thing Trish had. "...Something important," he decided tensely as North rezzed his titan. "We might as well be turtles in a swamp right now, they don't even care about us."

"Let's hope... They stay that way?" Victor was able to get to one knee, making sure to pull Mikey against him for a moment before getting to his feet and checking what little of his loadout he had left. He flinched briefly at a small group of acolytes maybe ten feet behind him, stopping himself from attacking it when he saw their eyes enraptured on the sight only a short ways above.

Deliah took in the sight of the hunter clashing blades with the massive knight and somehow not giving an inch and found herself staring. She was aware of everything around her by now, but the two above were, for lack of a better word... _"...Goddamn impressive."_

Cirune rested his rifle on his back, his last weapon useless now without ammunition. He looked around to the Hive in the room, his gaze drawn to their intermittent shouts as they all but ignored the guardians they surrounded. "...They're _cheering,"_ he deduced, then looked up to the fated duel in time to see another violent clash. "This is some kind of rite, and they're actually rooting for Crota."

Victor gravitated toward the center of the group, nervously eyeing the targets around them before looking up. "Bunch of cheerleaders from hell... But I guess it's fair," he said with a flex of his upper back, looking a little confident. "I don't think they realize Schade's not alone down he–"

"COME ON!" Meteor had already beaten him to it, throwing his fists in the air to match his booming voice. "HIT 'IM LIKE A TITAN!"

Trish was just next to him, not even close to giving a damn about the Hive around them. "You got this, Schade! Castrar aquele filho da puta feio!"

When Victor and Deliah joined in on the cheering, not to mention the collective flinching from the units around them, Cirune smiled. None of them had ammunition worth a fighting chance right now, but he knew this fight no longer hinged on them. "It's all you," he started at an astonished whisper before raising his chin and shouting. "It's all you, hunter! Finish the fight!"

Schade had only just managed to dodge an incoming swipe that had found its way in between two of his. He was quick, but he could feel the very tip of his cloak being sheared by the edge of Crota's blade. He could hear the horrible incantations in the back of his mind, dizzying reflections of Omnigul's voice and Crota's will, but there was something else that was stronger.

His right earfin flicked at the sound of his fireteam, all cheering loudly, and he afforded them a glance. They were all on their feet, eyes bright despite everything that had happened. He had them, and they most certainly had him. They believed in him. The last piece fell into place when he felt a single point of Light enter his mental space, and the sensation of support that immediately followed, the notion that he was never, ever alone. He was smiling when he looked back to Crota. He said nothing. He didn't have to. His next actions would speak for him, and the Hive prince seemed to sense the threat in this.

Crota roared and lunged forward, shrugging off the shroud of uncertainty he'd somehow acquired and instead going for full-on aggression. He brought the blade down hard against the ground where Schade was just standing, then lifted enough to strike to the side where he had gone, then to the other side, then over again and again at a diagonal until he could make just one connection amid the flurry of strikes... In short, he couldn't.

Schade danced around each strike, backstepping more and more until he was practically leaping away. Crota was many, many times his size. His leg alone was as tall as he was, and he had to make up his own body length in each of the massive knight's strides... Unless he didn't. He could outpace the titanic opponent in short bursts, but he couldn't sustain it, so he stayed close. He was a small target, and while any one of these strikes could wipe him out in a single shot, the brute would have to catch him first. He sprung in and out of his strike zone, focusing intently with each movement. Crota was no idiot, and despite his own sudden surge of courage, he had to remind himself that his opponent was a prince for a reason.

He found himself ducking under a swipe and saw the flicker of an opening. He made a sudden break for it and covered the ground in a flash, bringing the edge of his stolen blade hard into Crota's knee. He barely waited for the contact to register before he was already leaping away, only narrowly dodging a furious counter from his left before landing springily on his feet a length apart. He waited only half a second to see Crota nearly stumble, then sprung forward again like a pouncing cat.

Crota twisted around as he fell to one knee, only just managing to swat Schade's strike away with a heavy-handed blow of his own. It was the only thing that saved his life at the moment, and when he got back to his feet, he could feel just how bad the damage was to his leg. He could no longer push aggressively. He had to change his tactics.

Schade had taken to circling Crota now, hearing his fireteam cheering him on while the Hive surrounding them only growled and cursed tensely. He couldn't let up now. He couldn't allow Crota to formulate a plan, not at this stage in the fight. So, he surged forward. Reckless, perhaps, but it was his only option now. He bolted low to the ground and zig-zagged, keeping himself a hard target. When Crota struck outward, he planted his foot down audibly hard into the ground and brought himself to an immediate halt, the blade only coming in contact with cloth.

His cloak split at the end. The blade was far off to the side. Their gazes met. Schade smiled.

_ Crota was wide open._

He kicked off the ground with what little momentum he had left, launching himself directly toward Crota's throat. His blade spun easily in his hand, leading toward that soft mark like it wanted it... Until a chitin-plated arm came up and deflected it. The strike was enough to shatter the armour there and expose a flare of cyan fire. He had sacrificed his arm to save his throat. By the time he could see Crota's eyes focusing on him, he knew he couldn't get the massive blade back fast enough.

_ "Fuc–!"_

Crota's claws shot out and clasped around Schade's throat, catching his arm and half of his chest in the process. Schade's reactor dropped when he lost his grip on his sword, not even able to move his upper body to see where it landed. He was in the air, tightly in Crota's grip as the giant rose to his feet, his own legs dangling uselessly as he kicked for any kind of movement. He couldn't reach his knife. He had no grenades. His weapons were... Somewhere.

The fireteam collectively flinched back, but Meteor took a single step forward. His fists clenched and his voice growled. "No, yer not done yet!" He roared at the hunter. "If he's got the win, ye take it from him! TAKE IT FROM HIM, SCHADE!"

Trish jumped nervously just behind him. "Can't we do something? We _have_ to do something!"

"No," Cirune said with a hand to her arm. "We can't interfere... This is their fight..."

"But he's _losing_ that fight–!" Trish was going to argue further until she could hear Meteor's gloves creaking from the tightness of his fists. They really couldn't interfere...

Schade growled against the grip, unable to do anything but nest his fist into the damaged fray of armour. He snarled at him when he saw the blade come closer, held near to his arm like he was going to pop him like a damn champagne bottle.

_ "This,"_ Crota hissed, _"is how you end. _This_ is your 'destiny,' dead thing..."_

He could do nothing but growl.

_ Schade..._ Ori's quiet voice, long-absent and gratefully heard, cradled his mind. _...I have you._

The exo gritted his jaw against it all, eyes burning brightly. All it took was Ori's voice to remind him, to assure him that they were in control, no matter what. The torturous whispers no longer meant anything. Crota's words were hollow in his ears, almost funny. "No... It's... _NOT!"_

He jerked his arm out and reached into a storm, arc Light erupting from his hands as his blades were summoned. Though when he formed his grip on the handles, the arc energies seemed to slow to a halt, whip-crack back with shifting spectrum into a fine point, then ripple out behind him in a burst of brilliant violet. The void energies shifted around him abruptly and he faded from view like a phantom, leaving Crota with only the sensation of liquid-like energies ripping his arm apart on a molecular level.

The giant knight flinched back with a pained howl as the armour on his arm crackled and popped off in uneven pieces, now no longer able to find his target amid the sudden vorpal chaos. Only the briefest flicker of purple fog alerted him to Schade's presence too late as his blades, now longer and sharper, flashed out of nothingness to meet his flesh. The first strike buried itself and completely passed through all but half of his thigh, easily bringing him tumbling to that knee. He lashed out with his sword to where he swore the hunter was and swung through mist. When his sword struck the ground, he felt another atom-deep strike go through his side, scattering a piece of his armour that disagreed with the sudden vaccuum caused by the impossibly sharp edge. He tried his best to get to his feet, roaring from the effort before striking blindly around him. His second swing earned him a slice to his back, deep enough that it upset the feeling in his legs. Just turning snapped the ruined armour off of his leg where he'd been struck before, stumbling him in a brief moment that gave his invisible assailant another strike, this time a disturbingly deep gash that nearly took his arm off at the shoulder. He dropped to his knees and tried to switch his sword to his other hand, but a slash whipped upward across his face that shattered his helmet on one side and almost knocked him over. His arms briefly lost motor control for a moment... He'd dropped his sword. When his vision cleared in his one remaining eye, he did finally catch a glimpse of Schade coming out of the smoke like a striking viper.

The guardian had his sword.

"You want to know what destiny looks like?" He hadn't stopped moving, his cloak spinning ethereally behind him as he skipped to the side, void energies still licking at his edges. He kept his momentum going, spinning Crota's blade as he all but coated it with void Light and slashed off the clawed hand that reached for him. He sprung to the stump of his arm and up to his shoulders, where he launched upwards in a puff of vorpal energies. He raised the blade in midair, arched high over his shoulders as he looked down into the prince's eyes. _"It looks like this!"_

He brought the massive edge down like a guillotine with everything he had, aimed directly at the space between Crota's jaw and shoulder. The edge of the blade, molecule thin, seemed to pull itself down through ascendant flesh and bone, spilling cyan fire and obsidian flakes as Crota's body fussed briefly against the blow. The blade struck the ground with a thunderous crash and void Light shocked up his arms and flared out like a splash of water, and Crota's brightly dissolving body fell in two directions.

The Hive all around them stirred in terror, some not even moving for a moment as they registered the death of their prince. Many began to disappear in sprays of shadowy fire, fleeing before their lack of leadership could be utilized. The guardians, however, were a different story.

For all the shouting, Meteor and Trish were easily the loudest, both jumping up into the air the moment Crota's body flared with neon green Hive fire and toppled. Victor had jumped on Deliah, who was almost as excited, and Cirune couldn't help but throw his fists into the air.

Schade straightened as the void energies coalesced and wicked off of him. It took him a moment to take in his situation. He was alone on the altar, battered sword in his hand, no targets around him. His nerves still prickled, like there was something else he was missing. There had to be something else...

_ You can relax,_ came the most welcome voice just a bare moment before Ori phased out in front of him. He openly smiled, pride glittering in his optic. "...You did it."

He let out a breath as though he had been holding it, then he brought up his free hand and cradled his ghost, pulling him up to hold him under his chin. He shook slightly from the exertion, still coming down from the combat high. Another breath, and this time his shoulders relaxed.

Ori sat happy and quiet in his guardian's hand for a time, simply feeling him come down before speaking. "So... What happened while I was out?"

Schade opened his eyes not realizing he'd closed them, taking stock of everything that had just transpired in the last few rapid minutes. He opened his mouth to speak, to reason it into words, but he couldn't. He couldn't sort out the reality of what had just happened. With nothing else, he smiled tiredly and let out a small laugh, choosing to look up at nothing in the distance. _Always watching my dumb ass,_ he thought to the aether. He hoped... No, knew, who would be listening. For the first time in years, the memory of his face made him smile. _I think I got this now... I'll be okay... Thank you. For everything._

Ori held the silence with him, understanding only that some sort of peace had been found. It wasn't that he was afraid of disturbing it, he could feel that the sense was solid in his soul. Schade felt... Strong. Tired, but resolute. Maybe he would ask him again later, but for now... He flinched, drawing back a bit nervously.

Schade turned to see Meteor charging him, entirely too late to dodge the giant arms that flung around him and spun him about with the most idiotic, triumphant laugh he's ever heard. He was entirely too spent to do anything to fight, so he let his legs flail around with a laughing curse that left him winded. It really was all he could do to keep the sword from hitting anything as Trish quickly joined in on the hug. He was surprisingly okay with it.

Hell, the whole fireteam came over cheering and laughing, but he was just too damn tired to make any sense of what all the jumbled voices were saying. It just... Felt good. He felt good. With everyone around him laughing and cheering, even with Meteor and Trish just refusing to let him go, even with the exhaustion creeping up on him, he struggled to remember a time he felt this good since...

"Hey! Hey guys, hold on!" Tigger suddenly sprung upwards from the group, flickering brightly to get their attention. "I'm getting a comms request... It's from the Tower! Directly from the Vanguard office!"

Trish beamed, her arms still hooked around Schade's neck from the side. "Well? Patch 'em through!"

The orange ghost splayed his shell open with a web of light. "Hellmouth raid team, go ahead, Tower!"

The relief in Cayde's voice on the other side was hard to miss. "H-hey, I got 'em! I got 'em!" His words were rushed, as were the sounds of boots around him. "See? I _knew_ they were okay!"

"Raid team, what's your status?" Commander Zavala sounded like he was directly over Cayde's shoulder.

_ "HE GOT HIIIIM!!" _Victor's shout overrode just about everything, starting another raucous round of cheering from the fireteam.

Cirune, hearing the Vanguard's confusion just under the chaos, elaborated through his own near-laughter. "Crota is down! I repeat, Crota is down! Target eliminated, _very_ thoroughly!"

_ "SCHADE GOT HIIIIIIIIM!!"_ This, however, was Deliah.

There was a moment more of cheering before they realized Kenta and Firia were on the other end of the line, cheering right along with them. After a while, Ikora's smiling voice came loud and clear. "Excellent work, fireteam. Come back to the Tower and rest... You've earned it."

"Hell yeah, you have!" Cayde intruded. "Come on home, guys... Damn fine job down there."

"Agreed," came the Commander. "...Tower out."

Schade didn't even remember the ride back. He was sure they were all transmatted, since he definitely would remember trekking all the way back through the Hellmouth, and they most certainly didn't. He was in a haze, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. By the time they reached the Tower, he realized they were all pretty damn tired.

Covered in Luna dust and smelling like Hive, the fireteam made their way out of the hangar and into the courtyard. He shouldn't have been surprised to see various people clapping and cheering upon their arrival, but he definitely wasn't expecting it. He almost shrunk back away from the attention when he felt a hand clap his shoulder, sending a small puff of dust windward.

"It's been an honour, Schade-9," Cirune said with a nod. "Maybe we'll fight together again sometime...?"

Schade blinked at him momentarily, but his gaze wandered to the fallen warlock's bond on his arm... Marcus. His name was Marcus. He took a breath and smiled, looking up to the titan's eyes once more. "I'd like that," he admitted, just a little too tired to punctuate it with a sharp joke.

The awoken man nodded, then glanced back to see Victor kissing Deliah's hand before looking to Marcus's bond, placing his hand over it thoughtfully. "I would stay, but... I have to return this to the warlock who _should_ be wearing it."

Schade followed his gaze when he looked up, spotting Firia and Kenta emerging from the Vanguard office below. Part of the woman looked immensely relieved to see her fireteam leader return, but the rest of her seemed to break a little when she saw the bond. "I understand," Schade said quietly. "...Good luck."

Cirune knew what he was going to do was difficult, but he smiled softly back to the hunter. "Same to you, my friend... Hold to the Light."

Schade nodded and watched him depart, catching sight of Meteor already a ways ahead. The giant titan stood with a nervous-looking warlock, a man he recognized from the moments before he had posted the raid. They were too far away to be heard, but Meteor offered him something in his hand. It was Ollie, the man's ghost. It almost would have been impossible to tell from the distance until the ghost managed to flicker back to life, floating wearily upwards from Meteor's palm.

The warlock looked down in shock at first, then broke into an unsteady smile as he cradled his partner in both hands. It only took a moment for his expression to shake and melt into grateful sobs, cradling his ghost as he slowly leaned forward into Meteor's chest. The titan only rested his hands on the warlock's shoulders, nodding as he patted him.

"Hey."

Schade's stare was broken off by Trish's voice calling him softly... Or maybe it was the knuckle she was playfully digging into his shoulder. He fussed tiredly. "What...?"

She looked him over and nodded. "You did real good down there... You're one helluva hunter."

An airy snort. "You're not half bad yourself... Stick around, you might learn something."

"Thought you didn't teach?"

He shrugged, his only response while he watched Meteor not even attempt to disentangle the warlock from his chassis.

Trish watched the same for a moment before glancing back to see Victor and Deliah already walking off, the warlock waving goofily at them before the titan woman latched onto his arm and dragged him off with a laugh. She smiled, then looked back to Schade, gesturing to the wrapped sword strapped to his back. "To the victor go the spoils?"

Schade had to look at her for a moment to understand what she was saying. "Oh... No, this is..." He tugged at the strap that crossed his chest, perpendicular to the open gash in his armour. "...This belongs to someone."

Trish gave him a well-meaning smile before giving him a hard pat to the arm. "You handle that... I'll wait in the lounge, huh?"

The lounge. The place where he, Civil, and Kace once practically claimed as their own. It was their place... His place. He hadn't been there since the incident. He wondered with no small measure of uncertainty how different it would be without them. The thought made his reactor clench, like it was some kind of wrong to be there with anyone else. But...

_ I think I got this now... I'll be okay..._

"...Yeah," he decided after a steadying breath. "Yeah, I'll see you there."

_ We'll be okay..._

Trish nodded, her smile bright despite the dust. She said nothing more as she strode off in that direction, only turning to Tigger after a few steps. "Hey, is there a way you can get this stupid dust off of me...?"

Schade shook his head at the little exchange, then started his way down to the Vanguard office, pulling the strap on the sword to keep it from moving so damn much.

Ori pinged him in the back of his mind. _You're not keeping the sword?_

_ No, absolutely not._

_ But why? You wielded it so well._

_ I know... And so did he._ He walked down the hallway to find Shaxx wasn't at his station. _A little too well... And I'm sure there's someone who lost a lot more who needs it more than I do._

He entered the office to see the Vanguard trio actually gathered together on one side of their giant table. Eris was just near them, looking how she usually did. There was a different air to her, if he truly focused on her. He took a breath and moved forward, the Vanguard finally noticing him. He only offered them a collective nod before quickly turning his attention to the fourth. "Eris?"

She almost startled at the sound of her name, but settled a bit once she saw who it was. "Ah, Schade... You have done very well." Her words were bland, but there was something he could hear in her tone that was incredibly sincere. "It was inevitable that we would face Crota eventually, but to have gone down into that pit so soon, so uninformed... I'm afraid I have nothing of a reward for your efforts, hunter..."

Schade blinked, then looked down a bit. "O-oh, that's not why I..." He trailed off, ending it in a laugh. "No, I... I have something for _you,_ actually..." He unstrapped the sword from his back, simply lifting it over his head and bringing the blade around his side to offer to her. It was wrapped hilt to tip in some kind of cloth from his ship, bound by the leather strap he'd carried it with. "The sword of Crota," he explained as he held it out to her on both hands. "Damn near killed me with it, but... I understand it's wielder took a whole lot more from you." His violet eyes, though tired, were soft on hers. "Now more than ever, I understand... I have a hard time thinking there's anyone more deserving of keeping it than you."

Eris gaped at it when he offered it, doing well to keep a nervously raised hand as her only reaction. She reached out to touch it, but hesitated. "This is... You killed him with it?"

He nodded.

She stared at it for a moment and shook her head, seeming a bit overwhelmed. "I... This is something I cannot..."

"It's a reminder," he said when she paused, still patient. "For your fireteam."

She stilled. Her eyes seemed to travel across its covered length, half-covered expression resting somewhere between realization and mourning... Then she straightened. Her hand gently rested on the covering cloth for a moment before, finally, she took the heavy blade in both hands, lifting it from his. "...Thank you, hunter," she said quietly to him. "Though you and I both know, it is not just _my_ fireteam you went down there for."

He looked at her for a moment, then chose to smile a bit. A nod followed. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right... I did it for everyone," he said. "For every guardian who's lost someone down there in the dark... Or hell, anywhere. For everyone who's lost someone irreplaceable, who feels like... Like there's nothing to move on from after something like that..." He stared at the ground, seeming to search briefly. "...There is. I've learned there is an 'afterwards.' And it... Doesn't have to be terrible. You just... Have to remember them in a different way, that's all. It's not about wanting them back, or... Or just sitting and remembering, not all the time. It's... It's letting them know you're alright, too. So they don't worry. Because..." He laughed once, remembering. "Because you know they'd worry, watching you sit and waste away... It's not what they'd want. So... Remember them in a good way. Maybe finish what you started, and... Let them know you're okay..."

Eris stared at him for a long time, holding the same silence as the Vanguard around them. She was locked on his face for some few moments before looking to the covered blade with a nod. "...I think I will," she said quietly. "Thank you for this. I... I will take a moment to remember."

He looked up from the floor and managed a smile, weak but honest. It wasn't until Zavala cleared his throat that he looked to the titan. "To say you've done this world a favour is an understatement, Schade... Take some time to recouperate. I'm sure you need it."

"Yeah," he gathered enough of himself to laugh, bringing a hand up to fiddle with the gash across his chestplate. "Yeah, bet I do, too. It was a wild ride. I'm amazed you survived as long as you had down there," he said back to Eris. "Not bad, for a human."

"Awoken."

He blinked, apparently having not expected that. "Pardon...?"

"I am an awoken," she said again, nodding slightly.

"O-oh, sorry, I, uh... I was mistaken..." His eyelights briefly flared a bit more brightly, catching along his cheekplates a bit as though he was blushing. He fiddled with the back of his head through his hood, mumbling quietly to himself. "Глупый робот, посмотрите поближе, идиот..."

"A common misconception," came the voice of Shaxx just behind him against the wall. He seemed amused. "For all she's been through and still holding strong, her determination could easily be mistaken for that of a human."

She looked askance at the titan. "I suppose I will be taking that as a compliment, oaf..."

Ikora chuckled, then placed a gentle hand on Schade's shoulder. "Take time for yourself, hunter. This has been quite the journey for you and your fireteam... Rest well."

Schade seemed to regain his composure a bit, then nodded. "Thank you," was his only response before he started heading out. He had only gotten to the steps before another voice caught his attention.

"'Ey, kid."

He turned to face Cayde, a bit surprised. "Ah, no fair, I'm too easy to sneak up on right now."

The older exo laughed, arms crossed over his chest as he regarded him. "That's a pretty remarkable thing you did down there... You'll uh," he nodded to the damage on him, "have to tell me the story when you're up for it."

Schade found himself looking down at the gash, remembering what it had done but seeing none of what had killed him. "Uh, m'afraid I don't have all the answers yet," he chuckled sheepishly. "A lot happened..."

"Oh, I can tell," he said. "Like I said, when you're up for it. And uh..." He looked him over briefly, something he recognized as a bit of a tell. "...I'm proud of ya."

He froze for a moment, then chose to smile past his exhaustion. "T-thanks..."

Cayde nodded, then walked back to the office and gave him a pat on the shoulder along the way.

Schade stared after him for a moment before going up the stairs. He was exhausted, but the idea of going back to the lounge was... Enough to keep him awake. He walked heavily up stairs he would have normally skipped steps over, slowly treading his way to familiar territory.

_ Cayde's not the only one who's proud, you know._

He smirked, then pulled Ori from his neural net and simply cradled the ghost into his hood while he walked. "I know... And I couldn't have done it without you."

"You say that," Ori started, "but you really did... I was unconscious for all but the final moments of that battle."

"And that's when I needed you the most," he said in return.

Ori stared for a moment, then tilted his shell up in a smile.

The two paced in happy silence to the lounge, Ori having transmatted the dust off of him before they'd fully entered the place. He hesitated around the corner from the entrance, seeming to look around suspiciously before entering... It was exactly how he remembered it.

Low lighting, neon blue glow resting in smoke, golden firelight reflecting off of glasses... The bartender was the same as he always knew, the man looking up and freezing as though he'd seen a phantom. Schade offered his best effort at a smile, which garnered a beaming response from the old man. _Welcome back, old friend, _he had said without words.

"Ey, Schade!"

He flickered his gaze around the room until he saw Meteor waving at him, Trish sprawled out on the other end of the couch from him. They had apparently done the same thing he had, using their ghosts to get the dust off... Just the sight of them made him smile.

"There 'e is!" Meteor laughed as Schade moved to sit down between the two of them. He patted his broad hand a few times on the much smaller hunter's chest, chuckling a bit. "'Bout time ye got that fixed! Want some coffee?"

"Ah, nah," he said as he leaned back a bit in the cushions, Ori still having nested himself in his hood collar. "I'm good on that front."

Trish grinned. "Don't blame you there, boss... Say, how did you manage to stay alive through that whole fight?"

Schade tugged briefly on his hood, eyelights a bit out of focus. "I didn't."

She blinked. "You...? Okay, then how did Meteor come back? Dude, I _saw_ you get smashed like an empty soda can."

The titan only chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it... I'm certainly not! I'm sure things would'a turned out a lot more differently if I hadn't!"

She folded her arms, scowling a bit at him, though playfully. "Okay, a'right... Though I _will_ find out someday. Creepy bro."

Meteor laughed at the title.

Trish rubbed at her clean face, sighing a bit. "What a rush, huh? Couldn't pay me enough to do that again."

Meteor audibly shrugged. "I could do it again, definitely avoid shriekers for the rest of my life, though..."

Trish shuddered. "Same. The avoiding shriekers part, though... The darkness in that first spot was terrifying, though. Easily the part that I'll never go back to again."

"Oh yeah, definitely a scary run," Meteor nodded, then looked to Schade. "Ye gotta tell me how ye got that nasty gash on yer chest, though! That looked real bad."

He was met with silence.

Trish leaned forward to look at him and grinned, Meteor soon following suit and breaking into an even bigger grin.

Nestled quietly between the two, both ghost and guardian had drifted off to sleep. He was still where he lay with his arms crossed over his middle, his expression a great deal softer than it had been before. He was... Peaceful. They both were.

Meteor went to chuckle, but definitely tried to restrain it. Trish looked at him with a beaming smile, then folded her arms behind her head and leaned back on the poofy couch arm behind her, letting one leg dangle off the side of the couch while the other propped her up a bit. In truth, it wasn't long before Meteor had followed suit, having reclined his massive weight on his own cushions.

Everything felt right... Felt alright. Everyone was alright.

Within an hour of falling asleep, all three guardians had become a pile on the couch...

This story is dedicated to all those who remain.

Those who have fallen will never be forgotten by any of us, and their legacies will be burned into the unwritten history of our souls forever. You who still live on, know that it is for a reason and you should never allow yourself to fall into darkness because of it. You are alive not because you failed, but because they succeeded. You live to tell their stories, and to make your own.

No matter how far you go, no matter how deep it gets, always know that you are never alone,

and _never, ever give up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Guys... This was a haul. This chapter, my immediate surroundings, everything that's gone on in my life... It's been tough. I hope you all have enjoyed this story as much as I have, despite how often it's kicked my ass while I've tried to write it. There was nothing that could have stopped me from writing this, though everything seemed to try desperately to do so... It has been a child of mine, and I am quite proud of how it's grown.
> 
> \- Kellie... Shenanigans. SHENANIGANS, KELLIE. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND THIS, I KNOW.


	14. A Distant Howl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wounds are mended and only toughened scars remained. Even an animal previously wounded will run and bay at the wind when freed from the miserable process of healing... But what other beasts are on the move...?

**A Distant Howl**

Trish fitted quietly with the corner of the vault, waiting for something. Tigger phased out just over her shoulder, first looking quizzically to the hangar and then back to her with the same expression. "I didn't realize you'd won by such a margin... Weren't they right behind you?"

She laughed and straightened her hood around her shoulders, seeming a little out of breath. "And here I ran from the hangar for no reason!"

Just then, Meteor came bursting out of the hangar, sliding around the corner at a full sprint before catching sight of Trish ahead of him and chuckling. "Ah, blast it!" He huffed through his beaming smile as he approached her at a much more acceptable walk. "I definitely thought I had ye around that last checkpoint... Where'd ye get that ship?"

The hunter glowed, chest puffing out. "What, that old thing? It's just a little something called the Fermi Solution... Nothin' special."

"She stole it from a Dead Orbit guardian."

She balked at Tigger and let loose a long string in her native language, but Meteor only laughed. "'Ey, I won't say nothin'. Definitely faster than my Seraphim Toaster... Where'd Schade go, though?"

"I figured he was right behind me," Trish said with a raised brow. "That's where he was when I checked my windows. He dropped off scanners right before the last checkpoint."

Meteor crossed his arms, a thoughtful expression creasing his brow. "I don't remember passing 'im, that's for sure..."

"Oh yeah, no, neither of you did."

They both jumped and looked up above them. There atop the vault, Schade was lounging on his stomach with one arm under his chin, the other dangling lazily over the edge. "I was wondering what was taking you both so long."

Trish flushed and rigidly pointed a finger up at him. "Creepy! _Creepyyyyy!!"_

Meteor chortled. "I knew it! How'd ye get up there, though? I think that's more of a mystery here."

Schade smiled wryly and rolled to the side, flipping his legs over first before taking himself straight down from the tall vault column. "Now that'd be telling... What I want to know is how you managed to make a Toaster go that fast, though."

"Not bad, huh?" He grinned, as if he wasn't already.

Trish gave a quiet curse, though held her bright smile as she lightly punched Schade in the arm. "I'm gonna go check the bounty board. Been a while since I've gone to Venus, I might as well find something there to do."

Schade lit up and Ori let out an audible grumble. "I can guide you on Venus! I've got the whole thing mapped, meter for meter."

"Oh, don't follow him," Ori laughed as he phased out. "He'll lead you straight to a detachment of minotaurs and get you both smashed."

Lily did much of the same, bumping playfully into Ori until she spun his shell. "But isn't that the fun part?!"

Meteor laughed again, tugging Schade's hood down a bit over his eyes before walking. "I'm gonna find some grub. Lemme know when ye wanna go stomp on some Vex!"

Schade snorted and fought for his vision unobscured. "Yeah, find us some bounties, I'm going downstairs to check in with the Vanguard... I'll save you some time if Tigger and Lily give Ori their telemetry. Check in for all of us."

Trish nodded, already approaching the board. "Sounds good! If Meteor doesn't stop to eat by himself, that is!" She called after the titan with cupped hands.

He spun on his heel to face her, almost halfway across the courtyard. "And eat without ye? Never! S'gonna take 'em a bit to cook three orders, though!"

"Ah, such a good dude," Schade teased as he turned to jog down the steps, all three of them laughing one way or another.

_ It feels like the old days,_ he thought wistfully, and the notion was enough to give him pause. He quieted as he walked and his expression slipped to a distant stare. He didn't know what to think about that. _Is it alright to even compare? There was no combination like ours. What would the others think if I...?_

His thoughts trailed off as Ori quite forcibly poked his way into his hood. "I can feel that... Stop it." He nudged one of his spikes gently against Schade's cheekplate. "You _know_ Civil wouldn't want that, and Kace made it pretty clear where his boots stand."

Schade was caught somewhere between smiling at his faithful ghost and frowning at his lingering demons. "You know, looking back at that encounter in the courtyard... Could you feel that, coming off of Kace? I wasn't really open to it at the time, but now that I'm reviewing it calmly, he seemed... Off."

"Like, about to _kill me on the Tower,_ off? Orrr...?"

"Like, 'about to kill myself on the Tower' off," he said with a shake of his head. "Kace is many things if not rash and emotional, but... Do you think it's worth approaching him for an explanation? I dare say he was worse-off than I was..."

Ori blinked, then floated out in front of his face, stopping him in his tracks and staring hard at him. "Who are you and what have you done with Schade?"

The exo smiled. "I know, so very unlike me to put an end to a long-strung blood feud. But let me ask you this... Where was Arcadia?"

Ori flared his shell to argue, but fell silent in thought. The concern was visible in every angle of his shell when he looked away. "...That does worry me. Archie _always_ stayed with Kace. He's such a soft-spoken soul, very sensitive, more nervous than Tigger..."

"Not one to make it on his own."

"No, definitely not."

"It would be worth it to track down at least one of them..." Schade thumbed Ori's shell and continued on down the way. "For now, though, we have an office to..." He hadn't made it far before he noticed something odd about Lord Shaxx. He was maybe ten feet from the titan's desk and he hadn't even looked at him. He was concerned for a moment by how intently the titan was staring at his desk-mounted screen, how far bent over and close to it he was, but looking closer revealed to him what others couldn't see.

The titan was _delighted_ by something, enthralled by the message he was reading on the screen. He rested on crossed arms on his desk, so distracted that he didn't even notice when the much smaller hunter was practically leaning over his shoulder.

_ "Mmmmmmmm??"_

He snapped the screen shut so quickly, it almost cracked it.

"Oh man, take it easy!" Schade giggled, beating a quick retreat to just outside arms' reach before he could fully turn his way. Somehow, he kept himself at such a level as to not draw attention to them. "And here I thought _I _was jumpy! The new trainees aren't _that_ bad, are they?"

The giant regained his composure in the form of crossing his arms over his barrel chest. "It's none of your business, Little Panther..."

"Ooooo, using the nickname," he said as he paced back to the front of his desk. "Definitely personal, then... It's an interest, isn't it?" When Shaxx did nothing but tense one little tendon in his neck, Schade grinned even wider. "Aaahhh, it _is_ an interest! Who's the lucky one?"

Shaxx held his silence for some time, but did discreetly glance around, a movement made even more subtle by his expressionless helmet. "...She's _indomitable,"_ he said at nearly a whisper. "I don't think there's a thing in this universe that could intimidate her..."

Schade lit up. "Wow, look at you, forming a bond out of the void!"

"'Out of the void,' yourself," he rumbled. "I've never seen a hunter turn arc blades into void blades."

"Hey, don't change the subject!" The hunter waved his hand between them to cut him off. "It's not often I come down here and get such contented vibes off of you... I'm happy for you. What's her name?"

This was when the striker seemed to put up a wall, one so very easily detectable by the empathic exo. When he looked down to see Schade pretending he had a zipper over his mouthplates, the eyeroll was visible even through the helmet. "...Mara," he said with an even lower tone.

Schade was about to compliment the name when it registered and his expression snapped to leery surprise. "Mara? As in... Mara _Sov?_ _The Queen of the Awoken people?"_

"Yes, the one," he rumbled with a glance to the otherwise empty length of hallway, gaze lingering on the Vanguard office to no doubt make certain Cayde was out of earshot. "Keep your voice down..."

"I am, but... Wow." It was his turn to cross his arms and chuckle. "That's... Amazing. That's one hell of a catch. Hell, even _I'd_ have gone after that one given the chance..."

Shaxx lowered his helmet at him, the unseen eye contact intensifying. "I thought... Aren't you...? Well..."

Schade's left earfin slowly lowered as he stared at the titan, trying to make sense of his broken sentences and stammered words. When it finally registered what he was getting at, his eyelights flared brightly and he stammered something caught between languages with flailing hands while Ori burst into unforgiving laughter. Before he could even remotely clarify, a squawk on the radio cut him off.

_ "Attention guardians!"_ The voice that hijacked seemingly all channels belonged to a sharp-toned woman, all confidence and command. _"This is Petra Venj of the Awoken Royal Guard. Multiple bounties have been issued on key Fallen targets... The Reef is now open to you."_

For a moment, the two looked at each other. It wasn't until the bustle of activity could be heard in the Vanguard office that Schade pulled himself away from the desk. "Later conversation," he said back to the titan with a pointed finger as he walked away. "Definitely... Later. To clarify. That thing."

"'Ey, kid! C'mere!"

Schade didn't miss a beat when Cayde waved him over. "Yeah, I heard that... What's going on? I thought the Reefborn Awoken were all lock-and-key when it comes to the public eye?"

"They are," Commander Zavala said from his spot behind various PDAs, but the sharpness of his gaze on the hunter was disconcerting. "There's trouble... And I have my concerns when the Awoken Queen has called for you _directly."_

Schade blinked. "...Me...?"

Zavala slid his PDA across the table to Cayde, who fluidly spun it over to where Schade could read the message on the screen.

_ Bring me the hunter who stopped the Black Garden's heart and tore the Hive Prince Crota from his throne._

_ I have a debt to collect._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "We're not done yet, WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" - Kenta, Ch. 12


End file.
